Twice Shy
by Dame Wren's Ghost
Summary: Twice Shy by Dame Wren. Naruto and Hinata have returned to Konoha from their three year mission to recruit Sora. Now they must prepare themselves for the upcoming jounin test while Hinata deals with her family problems and Naruto confronts his past.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Naruto and Hinata walked down the road towards the big gates that marked the entrance to Konoha. Naruto's hand twitched to reach out and grab Hinata's, maybe even to pull her up next to him and wrap his arm around her shoulders.

She was right there next to him, but he couldn't touch her. Not with the guards watching.

They had both agreed that the generous amount of affection Naruto liked to shower on her probably wouldn't go over too well with the rest of the village, especially her father. They were going to have to tone it down in public, at least for a while.

It had been a long time since they had left the village on a mission with an old friend of the Hokage, a woman who had become like an older sister to both of them. Now they were walking back towards their home and she was walking back to her home, several days journey away.

They both wished that she was here with them, for more reasons than just the mission. With Sora already gone and Hinata out of reach, Naruto was already starting to feel lonely.

They approached the guards who were eyeing them wearily. Naruto supposed that two people arriving in the middle of the night probably was suspicious, especially two ninja that they didn't recognize with Konoha forehead protectors. Neither of them looked much like they had when they had left at fourteen.

"Who are you and what business do you have in Konoha?" one guard asked when they got within fifteen feet of the door.

"Uzumaki Naruto and Hyuuga Hinata. We've just returned from an extended mission," Naruto said, stopping.

Both of the guards started slightly in surprise, looking between each other and then back at the pair. "You're Uzumaki Naruto and Hyuuga Hinata?" the other one asked suspiciously.

Naruto smiled. "You know of another pair with white eyes and whisker marks?" he asked, his voice holding a hint of amusement.

The guard snorted. "Hmm…you're early," he said. "We weren't told to expect you for a few more days, and there was supposed to be three of you."

They both had to hold themselves back from wincing. "Our companion had things she needed to take care of. We hurried here so she could get back to them," Hinata said quietly.

The guards looked at her, vaguely surprised that she had spoken. Everyone in the village knew about how extremely timid the Hyuuga heir was. The other one grinned and knocked on the door, starting to yell. "Hey, open up the gates! We got a couple of shinobi returned home!"

Noises could be heard coming from the top of the city wall, before one of the giant doors swung partially open to allow them entrance. The guard walked through the opening, motioning the pair to follow him.

"Oi, Genma!" the guard yelled out to a group of ninja standing around the door mechanics, laughing at some joke. A man with shoulder-length brown hair held back by a bandana and a senbon between his lips turned to look at them. "You wanna take these two to the Hokage? She wanted to see them as soon as they got in."

The man grinned, the senbon dangling precariously from one corner of his mouth, but not falling out. "Hey, it's the loud kid from the Chuunin Exam a few years ago. Sure, I'll take 'em. Come on," he said, waving goodbye to the group he'd been talking to and starting to saunter down the street with his hands in his pockets.

Naruto and Hinata began to follow him through the lit streets of the village, half hearing the sound of the gate closing behind them. They had left before rebuilding from the Sand invasion had been completed. It was odd, walking past the closed-up shops, houses and restaurants that looked familiar and yet not. Konoha had always been somewhat of a hodgepodge of architecture, mixing old styles with colorful stucco walls and brightly colored roofs. After a few generations of battles, the buildings had had portions rebuilt so many times that it was almost a patchwork.

The sights and smells around them, the sent of food drifting out onto the street from an open restaurant, the hum of the streetlights overhead, the twisting streets and colored walls were all definitely Konoha. But it wasn't quite the same. It wasn't quite the village they left behind.

"So, how long you been gone for?" Genma asked casually over his shoulder.

"Three years," Naruto said rather softly, as if unable to really believe it himself.

Genma whistled softly. How he was able to do this with a sharp metal stick in his mouth, neither Naruto or Hinata could figure out. "Long time to be gone at your age."

"It was an important mission," Naruto said, with a half grin, the confident, rambunctious child returning.

"Oh, I see," the man said, looking back over his shoulder at them as he opened a door into a large cream-colored building. "Well then, it's probably confidential, right?"

Naruto's grin widened as he entered, stopping to hold the door open for Hinata. "You got it."

They walked three flights of stairs before heading down one of the hallways. This wasn't the building that the Hokage's office used to be housed in; they must have decided to move it sometime within the last three years. Looking out of a window, Hinata realized why. The new offices were directly opposite the hospital. Tsunade apparently wanted to be close to any potential patients.

"Hokage-sama?" Genma said, knocking on the door. "Hokage-sama, we've brought Uzumaki and Hyuuga to see you."

There was a series of quick, quiet footsteps on the other side of the door before both halves swung open to reveal Tsunade. Naruto grinned. She hadn't changed a bit. Same blond pigtails, same ridiculous bust, and not a single sign that she had aged a day.

She smiled back. "Welcome home."

**:::::xxxx:::::xxxx:::::xxxx:::::xxxx::::: **

"I'm sorry Obaa-san; we weren't able to bring Sora back with us," Naruto said as he hung his and Hinata's coats up on the hooks next to the door.

"You don't seem upset about the fact that you failed," Tsunade said, leaning back in her desk chair. It wasn't so much that she was upset, as she was surprised. She would have thought a failed mission would have made Naruto defensive and have him spouting off about how he was going to succeed eventually.

Hinata picked up the teapot on Tsunade's desk and poured all three of them a cup. "Onee-chan needed to take care of Yasu and Miki," she said. "They need her right now."

"Besides," Naruto said, plopping down in the chair next to Hinata and taking the cup of tea. "It's not like she's disappeared. We just have to wait for a better time." He grinned at her. "Then we'll get her here."

Tsunade looked at the pair sitting across from her. They were definitely the same two that she had sent away, but they had changed. Naruto still hummed with energy, but he sat half slouched in his chair, whereas three years ago he had sat on the very edge. At least until he decided to stand on it. He didn't seem to feel the need to shout how he was going to succeed, although all of his old confidence was still present in his statement about getting Sora here eventually.

He had also grown. A lot. He was at least six feet tall, maybe an inch or two more. Fortunately, he also seemed to have grown out of some of the awkwardness he had as a pre-teen or his long limbs would be going everywhere. Somewhere along the line he had also abandoned his bright orange suit in favor of long black pants and a rust red jacket with a stand-up collar. The spiral design, she noted, was still there, but only on his shoulder, the symbol embroidered on in black. It was like everything about him was the same, but slightly calmed down.

The girl on the other hand seemed to have opened up. She still seemed relatively quiet and soft spoken, but her stutter had disappeared and she was sitting up straight in her chair. She looked down as Ton-Ton butted it's nose up against her leg and smiled as she bent slightly to scratch between it's ears, making the little creature grunt happily. Her hair, apparently rather long now, had been twisted up into a large bun held in place by a pair of sticks topped with silver and decorated with a short fall of pearls. Like Naruto, she wore long black pants, but she wore a fitted creamy wool tunic that fell to mid thigh with slits up to her waist. The sleeves stopped halfway between her wrist and elbow and the collar was cut in a square, framing the Leaf forehead protector tied around her neck. Tsunade noted the swirl that symbolized the Hyuuga house had been embroidered in its standard red onto the lower left corner of the shirt.

"Who's Miki?" she asked. She recognized Yasu, Sora's old partner from her mercenary days, but Miki was new to her.

Naruto and Hinata looked mildly surprised that she didn't know, but didn't think much of it. Sora must not have mentioned Miki in her reports, although that did seem odd. "Miki is Nori and Yasu's daughter," Hinata said quietly.

"What happened to them?" Tsunade asked. "Why do they need Sora?"

They both stared at her for a few seconds before Naruto started exploded. "What do you mean what happened to them? They're in mourning from Itachi murdering Nori!"

"Itachi?" Tsunade repeated, shocked.

"Yeah, Itachi and Kisame!" Leaning forward to bang his fist on Tsunade's desk, Naruto continued. "Those bastards ripped down their defenses, killed Nori and were trying to kill Yasu and Miki when we arrived. All to get to me! And now, Yasu is so messed up that she can't even really take care of herself, let alone Miki! They won't come down off the mountain!"

"Are you telling me that the two of you fought Itachi and Kisame?!" Tsunade said, practically shouting. It was enough to startle Naruto out of his rant, leaving him staring at her slightly gaping. Then he looked over with a questioning look at Hinata.

Hinata gulped. "Um, yes; about six months ago," she said.

Fire burned in Tsunade's eyes. "All right, you two are telling me everything that happened, starting from the beginning, right now!"

"I'm going to kill her! What part of 'under the radar' does that girl not understand?" Tsunade was furious and making no efforts to hide it. She punctuated her last word with a punch to the wall, although apparently her full strength wasn't behind it because it only left a deep dent and not a hole.

Hinata flinched, but Naruto just sat there slumped in his chair. He was still steaming over Itachi and Kisame, the retelling bringing all of his anger back up to the surface.

Tsunade pushed the heel of her hand against her forehead and ground her teeth together. "So, just to make sure I have this straight; she took you out of a well-protected area to go live on a farm?" she growled.

"It was a well-protected farm," Hinata remarked timidly. Actually, in the end the farm had proven to not be protected enough, but it didn't seem to be a good time to mention that.

"Then she took you across the mountains and into the East where she got you mixed up in the military coup where you were nearly executed and then forced to fight to the death?"

"It was more of a political coup than a military one, and when we got around the fighting to the death part, we didn't actually have to kill anybody," Naruto said, hoping to placate her.

It didn't work. "Then she has you live with these people, making side trips all over the bloody east where you consistently get yourself in trouble and end up captured, injured, and almost killed!"

"None of those were really all that bad, Hokage-sama," Hinata said.

"And then, to top it all off, the three of you go head to head with four of the most powerful ninjas in the world! The same ones that happen to be after you!" she yelled, pointing a finger at Naruto.

"THAT Sora had nothing to do with; she didn't want to fight them either! And it was two and then the other two, not all four at once; plus we had Yasu and Nori to soften Itachi and Kisame up for us before we got there! We kicked their asses!" Naruto yelled.

"It hardly makes a difference! It doesn't change that fact that it is an absolute miracle that the two of here at all!"

They really couldn't argue with that. When all was said and done, it probably was a miracle that they were here

"Hokage-sama, I don't understand why all this is a surprise to you. I thought Sora was sending you reports," Hinata said, confused.

She exploded again. "Reports? Do you know what I got in the way of reports?" Tsunade shifted through a pile of papers before pulling out a couple of sheets and standing up to hand them to the two ninja. Hinata held them while they both leaned they heads together to read it.

Obaa-chan,

Naruto burnt his pants today trying to do one of the fire jutsus. I don't know what was funnier: him running around screaming until I hit him with the water jutsu, or how red Hinata's face was when he was standing there with his pants in cinders.

Sora

She'd drawn stick figures of all the action, labeling things like "Flames coming out of Naruto's butt" and "Hinata's super-blush."

They groaned under their breaths they remembered the incident. At least Sora hadn't sent the photos. They both knew that somewhere Sora had photographs. Her camera seemed to always be at her fingertips in the pocket of her coat, and there was nothing she liked more than pictures of embarrassing Naruto and Hinata moments. Hinata turned to the next page.

Obaa-chan,

I've decided that trying to teach Naruto to cook is a completely wasted effort. The boy can chop things up and clean dishes like a pro, but he can't follow a goddamn recipe to save his life. Speaking of which, here is the latest recipe for Chocolate Espresso Torte I've been making. You should give it a try (not that you're much better of a cook than Naruto, if I remember right).

Sora

She had written the recipe on the back.

Tsunade scowled. "I can cook just fine, too."

Naruto shrugged. He knew he couldn't.

"For the past three years, THAT is all I have gotten in the way of reports," Tsunade said, waving an irate hand at the papers on her desk. "She wouldn't write for months and then all of a sudden I'd get one of these drivels. I should have 36 full reports on your progress, detailing where you were and what you were doing, and instead I have 10 of these." She held up the thin stack of 'reports' that Sora had written, shaking them at them.

Both of them pulled back slightly, Naruto sticking his hand behind his head and attempting to laugh. "That's Nee-chan for you!" he said.

Tsunade tweaked one irritated eyebrow at them before slamming the reports back down on her desk. "Honestly, I don't know what I was thinking, putting the three of you together. I would have thought that Sora would have developed a slightly less reckless attitude over the years."

"They make each other worse more than anything else," Hinata said.

Naruto looked at her, crossed his arms, and started to pout. Hinata smiled gently and reached across the distance between then to rest her hand on his bicep. They stared at each other for a few seconds before Naruto sighed and detangled his hands enough to put one of his on hers and give it a gentle squeeze.

Tsunade smirked and raised an eyebrow at the pair. Hinata's cheeks instantly reddened as she put her hands back into her lap. Naruto scowled. "What?" he asked.

"Gotten closer in the last three years, have you?" she said, leaning on the desk with one hand, the other resting on her hip.

Hinata instantly reddened.

"Yeah!" Naruto said with a grin.

"I see. And what is your relationship now?" Tsunade asked with an arched eyebrow.

Naruto's grin widened as he jumped up to grab Hinata around the waist while her flush deepened. "Hina-chan's my girlfriend! She says I'm a great boyfriend and she's the greatest girlfriend in the whole world!" He squeezed her tight.

Hinata was rapidly starting to resemble a tomato. "Naruto!" she whispered desperately.

Tsunade's eyes went wide before settling into a fierce scowl. "I swear to god if Sora let the two of you have sex, I'm going to-"

Naruto had let go of Hinata and was leaning across the desk in a flash. "I'm not a pervert like Ero-sennin!" he yelled, ruffling Tsunade's hair.

She politely cleared her throat. "Well, hanging out with him certainly had the opposite effect on you," she said mildly. "Have you thought about how Hinata's father is going to react?"

Naruto scowled while Hinata looked down at her hands. "We'll figure it out," Naruto mumbled.

"Still, I assume you two are going to…tone it down some in public for a while," she said with a slightly irritated edge to her tone.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah…" he said dejectedly.

Tsunade smiled. "Well, you should be happy to note that I am going to make you guys write up the reports for the entire last three years jointly. That means that you'll have to spend time together in order to write them no matter what Hinata's father wants. And considering how many things you've done-"

All of a sudden she stopped. Tsunade looked at them for a long minute before a slightly frightening grin came over her face. "You two passed some sort of test when you were with the Kaze?"

"Yeah, we got our blacks."

"Which is halfway between a beginner and a full warrior?" She leaned forward onto the desk.

"Yeah," Naruto said, still slightly puzzled.

"So essentially you two tested for chuunin," she said with a smug smile, resting her chin on the back of her interlaced fingers.

"But, Hokage-sama, the Kaze test was nothing like the chuunin test," Hinata protested.

Tsunade waved her protests aside with a flip of her hand. "Yeah, but you two could probably pass that now no problem, right?"

They looked at each other, both vaguely shocked. Could they? Well, they certainly would be a lot better prepared than they were now. Thinking back on the challenges and the fights they realized that they probably wouldn't have too much trouble with the chuunin exam. It wouldn't be a walk in the park, but it wouldn't be too bad either.

The evil grin returned to Tsunade's face. "Plus if we divide all of the things you've done into separate missions rather than just one big one, I'd say you've accomplished quite a few in the last three years, wouldn't you?"

They both nodded hesitantly.

Her grin widened. "Then I expect both of you to be at the qualifying rounds for the Jounin Exam in four months!"

"All right!" Naruto said, pumping one first into the air.

"Jounin Exam?" Hinata said nervously.

Tsunade nodded. "It works a little bit differently than the Chuunin Exam. Fighting comes first, but it's only done in front of a panel of Konoha judges. After all, we don't want other countries to see the abilities of our up-and-coming jounin. From there, candidates are selected and divided into teams of five. Each team has two months to develop into a cohesive unit before the mission."

"Mission?" Naruto asked.

The woman nodded. "It's a different set-up every year as villages take turns hosting. The only requirement on the part of the village is that the mission must start and end in the capitol city and that there is a two week time limitation. Once those two weeks are up, all teams must have completed the mission or they will fail the exam."

"You mean all five pass or all five fail?" Naruto asked, flabbergasted.

She shook her head. "The team must pass in order for any member to be passed onto the rank of jounin. However, what members of the team pass is up to the home village."

"And, the mission is difficult?" Hinata questioned.

Tsunade leaned back in her chair. "Generally, the missions are tough, dangerous and only the best complete them. That is one of the reasons we test here first; we don't want to send ninja who aren't ready. Otherwise they don't come back."

Hinata gulped. "But you think we are ready?"

Tsunade nodded. "At least ready enough to fight in the trials. I don't know if we'll put you on a team, but I'd like to see what you can do."

"All right!" Naruto yelled, jumping out of his seat. "Just you wait, Obaa-chan! We're going to be the best two there! Everyone else better watch out!"

The older woman smiled while Hinata looked slightly nervous. "I'm glad-" Tsunade started, but was interrupted by a knock on the door.

A guard poked his head in. "Hokage-sama? Neji-san has arrived to escort Hinata-san home whenever the debriefing is finished."

Hinata's spine stiffened but simply acknowledged the guard with a short nod before turning back to Tsunade.

She looked at the clock and noting the ridiculously late hour, shook her head. "Well, I think that's enough for the night. I expect you to have all of the reports on my desk within the next week. We'll have the two of you qualified for the Jounin exam yet."

They both stood to get their coats when suddenly Tsunade stopped them. "Oh, Naruto wait, I forgot something." She reached into a desk drawer and pulled out a small object which she promptly threw at him. He caught it in one hand and looked at it. It was a set of keys.

"A document surfaced about a year and a half ago, although it took us a while to check its authenticity. It's been in the archives forever, but no one paid much attention to it." She smiled. "Apparently Yondaime Hokage made you his heir."

Naruto's eyes widened. Did this mean she knew the reality about who he was, where he had come from? Had everything somehow come out into the open in the three years he had been gone?

"Apparently, the man felt a connection to you considering that he sealed a demon inside you," she said with a sad sort of smile. "In any case, he left everything to you, including his house for when you turned sixteen."

Naruto gulped. "His house?" he whispered.

Tsunade nodded. "It's a townhouse on the west side of town. It's been boarded up for years now; no one knew quite what to do with it. I remember when Yondaime used to live there; it was rather charming. Clearly a bachelor pad, but some of the village matrons had helped fix it up for him so it wasn't so bad." She smiled. "Take good care of it; a lot of us have fond memories of that place."

Naruto just continued to stare at her. His father's house. It was almost too much for him to think about.

"In any case," Tsunade continued, "I had your things moved over into the house a week ago in anticipation of your return." She glared at him. "Couldn't you have emptied out your refrigerator before you left on a three year mission? I had to give hazardous duty pay to the people who cleaned it out."

He chuckled apologetically, still reeling from the news about the house.

She shook her head in resignation. "I'll have one of the guards show you where the house is. Now both of you go home and get some rest."

As they finished gathering their coats, Hinata laid her hand on Naruto's arm. "Are you okay?" she whispered in Western.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he replied, squeezing her hand as they stepped out onto the hallway. His eyes fell on the man standing opposite the door. "Neji-san," he said with a nod of his head.

Neji nodded his head back. "Uzumaki-san," he said, his voice low and clear. He looked down at where Naruto's hand was still covering Hinata's, then up at their faces.

Hinata quickly removed her hand to walk towards her cousin. "Neji-niisan, it is good to see you again," she said formally, but with a small smile.

Again, Neji nodded. "It is good to see you as well, Hinata-sama. Your father has sent me to escort you home, if the Hokage no longer needs you," he stated, looking up at Tsunade, who was leaning against the doorframe, sake bottle in her hand.

She shook her head. "No, we're through for the evening. Go home and get some rest you two. Juro," she said to one of the guards by door, "do you know where Yondaime Hokage's house is?"

"Hai, Hokage-sama," the scarred man said with a nod.

"Good. Take Naruto there; he's the new proprietor. Sleep tight you two," she said finally, closing the door to her office.

There was a dull silence in the hall. Naruto was staring at the closed doors. No matter what he said, Hinata realized that her boyfriend was in fact not fine. The news of living in his father's house, a house he had probably never even seen before, was hitting him hard enough that he was drawing back in on himself. She wanted to go with him so that they could see the house together and she could hold his hand as they walked through the door. But Neji was waiting to take her back and she knew there was no way she could get out of it.

She walked over to her love and softly said his name. When he looked at her, almost as if he was surprised to see her, she wrapped her arms around him in a hug. It only took him a split second to hug her back.

"I'll come by the house tomorrow morning, alright?" she asked into his shoulder, switching back into Western so only he would understand.

She could feel him nod before he released her, running his hand up and down her back once before letting her go. "Sleep well, Hina-chan," he said with a smile that was only partially forced.

She smiled back, then leaned down to grab her bag before nodding towards Neji. The two of them walked down the hall in silence.

Naruto turned back to the guard picking up his own bag. "All right, you wanna show me where this house is?"

**:::::xxxx:::::xxxx:::::xxxx:::::xxxx::::: **

He stood at the foot of the front steps, staring at the house. Juro had pointed out the house and then headed back to Tsunade's office. Naruto stood alone on the street, staring up at the house. His father's house.

It was on a corner in a quiet, residential neighborhood that Naruto didn't remember very well, although as a kid he used to run all over the village. The lot it was on was apparently long and skinny, but the house appeared to be three stories tall. The stucco was painted dark green from what he could see in the dark, broken up by many windows and a chimney along the side. Tsunade had said that it was boarded up, but apparently someone had taken the boards down recently and the house looked to be in relatively good shape.

Slowly, Naruto walked up to the front porch. The boards creaked beneath his feet. He pulled the keys out of his pocket and stared at them for a second before holding his breath and inserting the biggest one into the lock. He turned it and the door swung open with a moan.

It was dark inside, but with a few quick seals and words, Naruto had a ball of light playing along his fingertips. For some reason he was hesitant to turn any of the lights on. Slowly he made his way through the first floor of the house. Most of the front of the house was a living room with a large stone fireplace flanked by bookcases. There was furniture, couches, chairs, and couple of tables, all covered by large dust cloths. The large framed picture over the mantle was covered as well and Naruto carefully removed the cloth. It was a picture of Konoha from the rooftop of some building, just as night was falling.

He wandered farther back and found the kitchen, horribly dated but still spacious. Three of the walls were dominated by long stretches of dark countertop and lightly-colored cabinets. Tucked into the back corner was what Naruto assumed was a table under a large drop cloth. Behind it was a door leading to a small bathroom. There was also a door that opened to reveal steps down to a basement. A quick trip down revealed that it was a large pantry of some sort.

Heading back up the stairs and into the living room, he climbed up to the second story. There was a traditional hallway with sliding doors and another stairway going up to the third story. Naruto decided to keep going up and look at things from the top down. He was surprised to see a small spiral staircase. Hesitantly climbing it and opening the door at the top he found himself in what must have been a rooftop garden. There were raised beds and pots scattered around a patio area. They were all massively overgrown with weeds, but he could see what lay beneath. He smiled slightly, remembering the days he had spent hunched over in Nori and Yasu's rice fields. It might be fun to try to grow something again.

Back down on the third floor he discovered the master suite, complete with a traditional bath. Like the rest of the house, clothes covered all the furniture, but even without the furniture exposed, he could imagine what the room looked like. And he could almost picture his parents sitting on the sofa in the sitting area, looking out the window at the moon over Konoha.

He quickly left the room and headed back down the stairs. The second floor held two smaller bedrooms, another bathroom, and a small informal sitting room. It was the second bedroom that caught Naruto's attention. Something about the yellow room seemed vaguely off, but it took him a moment to realize what it was. Underneath the sheets, all of the furniture seemed vaguely small. Hands shaking, he walked over to the rectangular lump underneath the wide picture window and pulled the cover off with his free hand. For a moment he just stood there staring at it, and then his eyes started to water. It was a white crib made up with puffy light-blue bedding.

His bedroom. This was his bedroom.

Slowly he fell to his knees, and then rocked back so that he sat on the ground with his legs drawn up to his chest. His arms closed around himself, ending the light jutsu and leaving him in total darkness. He let himself go and simply cried.

He hadn't felt so alone in years.

**:::::Legal:::::**

The primary author of this work is Dame Wren. The authors are not affiliated with the owners of Naruto(TM).  
All materials associated with Naruto(TM) are used under the "Fair Use" provisions of copyright law.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"You're involved with Uzumaki-san?" Neji asked as they walked through the streets of Konoha back towards the Hyuuga house.

"Yes," she said quietly, not so much because she was embarrassed as because the streets were so quiet at this time of night. All the houses had their curtains drawn and only the streetlights illuminated their way. Konoha was fast asleep, and Hinata didn't want to wake it.

Neji was silent for a while. He had known about his cousin's crush on the boy for quite a while; a person would have to be blind not to notice. However, it hadn't occurred to him that the two might actually develop a relationship during the time they were away. Teammates were teammates, comrades in arms, not someone to get involved with. Romance should be saved for when they were older and ready to settle down.

The eldest child of the branch family had spent many years of his life hating the head family only to find that his father had found his honor in dying to protect the clan. It had taken years of training with Hiashi and a great deal of growing up to understand the way things were. He still wished things were different, but he had found a purpose in the way things were. He was supposed to protect Hinata no matter what. That was what he had decided.

And he wasn't sure where his involvement was needed when it came to Hinata's dating the loudmouth ninja. He either needed to protect her from the boy or protect her from her father.

"Does he treat you well?" he asked solemnly. 

There probably wasn't a question that Neji could have asked that would have shocked Hinata more. Why on earth was he asking her that?

"Um, yes, Neji-nii-san, he treats me very well," she replied.

Neji was impressed by the fact that Hinata was able to look him straight in the eyes while she said this. Normally, personal admissions of any kind were delivered to the ground about a foot in front of her feet. At least that was what would have been normal three years ago.

Her eyes slid forward again and they continued walking down the street. "Your father will not be pleased with you being involved with Uzumaki," he said, almost offhandedly.

Hinata nodded. "I know."

"You don't view your father's opinion as important."

There was a steely determination in her eyes when she looked back up at him. "Of course I consider his opinion important. He's my father. But I'm not going to let his opinion rule everything I do."

Her statement knocked Neji back a bit. He was beginning to think that what was normal for Hinata had changed a lot over the last three years.

They turned a corner and headed towards the front of the Hyuuga manor. She forced her breath to slow as they walked past the white wall of the estate, looking up at the green tile roof. They reached the gatehouse and Neji slid the door open, waiting until Hinata had passed through to close the door behind them. Removing her backpack, she sat down on one of the benches, undid the clips on her sandals and took of her coat. Stowing each in its proper spot, she stepped up into the house.

She was unsure if the house had changed at all in the last fifty years, but she was positive it hadn't changed in the last three. It was the same polished wood floor, the same white walls, the same large overhead beams. Backpack in hand, she wandered down the hallway, remembering the details. She stopped as she spotted her sister.

Peaking out from around the corner of one of the halls was Hanabi, long dark hair hanging down into her small, serious face. Hinata stopped and smiled at her. The girls had never been particularly close. It wasn't that they didn't get along, but once Hiashi had stopped training Hinata and sent her to the academy, all of his focus had shifted to Hanabi, and the girl had rarely left his side. Hinata had been dismissed as just another Hyuuga shinobi, and not a terribly good one at that, while Hanabi had become the prodigal daughter.

Hanabi was very quiet, very serious, and very good at taijutsu.

Hinata offered her a warm smile, but Hanabi simply stepped out from around the corner and offered her a small, "Onee-chan, it is good to see you again."

She fought to keep her smile from falling. "It is good to see you too, Hanabi-chan. You've grown a great deal since I saw you last."

The younger girl was taller, however she remained a little on the gaunt side with a tinge of a haunted look about her. She was twelve now, but she looked younger. She simply nodded in response, acknowledging the comment, but not really responding to it.

Hinata was about to try again at conversation, when her father stepped around the corner to stand behind Hanabi. "You have returned. Welcome home," he said in his low, monotone voice.

She dropped her bag to bow to Hiashi, face composed, spine straight. "It is good to be home Otousan," she responded formally.

"Put your bag in your room and come sit with me before you go to sleep," he said, turning to walk back down the hall.

Hinata sighed inwardly. It was nearly two in the morning and she had been hoping to postpone interacting much with her father until she was more rested. But what her father said was law, so she offered a soft "yes" and climbed the stairs to her room. It definitely hadn't changed a bit. Her low desk was still sitting in the corner across from the door with its little lamp. Her closet was behind that, and in the center of the opposite wall was a little dresser with a small jewelry box she had inherited from her mother. The last wall was made of doors that slid open to reveal the open courtyard below. It was rather austere, but it was the way things had always been.

For a moment she panicked, wondering where she was going to put all of the stuff she was bringing back from Sora's. She had clothes and jewelry, an entire boxful of scrolls, massive amounts of the dark and smoky tea from the west that she had grown to love. She had dishes and teapots and several pieces of art. There was no way that she could store them all in her room. She shouldn't have brought back so much, but she hadn't been able to resist when she knew she would probably never be visiting the west again.

Perhaps, depending on how big Naruto's house was, she would be able to store some of her things over there.

She dropped her bag into a corner and headed back downstairs.

Kneeling next to the door, she slid it open, stepped inside, and then knelt again to close it. Standing, she walked to where her father was seated, Neji off to one side. There was a cushion waiting for her across from her father and she gracefully lowered herself onto her knees, keeping her spine perfectly straight.

Her father stared at her for a long moment before speaking. "Did the mission go well?" her father asked.

"Yes, Otousan."

"Then you completed all of it successfully?"

She resisted wiping her hands on her pants. "Almost; there was one section we were unable to complete, but the training portion went well."

He gave her a look that clearly stated that he thought she was making excuses. "I trust that you have been practicing your Jyuuken?" 

Hinata bit her lower lip and willed her lungs to fill with air. "Considering how basic my taijutsu skills were and that I had no one proficient in the style to teach me, Sora and I decided that it would be better for me to learn her style of fighting, Shina-To-Be, and adjust it to take advantage of my bloodline limit."

There was a deathly silence in the room. Nothing in the room moved, as if it had all been shocked into petrification. 

"I see," her father said, his voice low and dark. "Hinata, do you understand your duties as heir to the Hyuuga clan?"

"Yes, Otousan," she said softly.

"Then you understand that you are responsible for the continuation of our clan, whose strength lies in a fighting style that you have abandoned."

"Otousan, with all due respect, I did not abandon Jyuuken. I saw an opportunity to increase my skills and I took it, fully intending to return and resume Jyuuken training." She maintained eye contact with her father the entire time, although she looked more like a deer in the headlights than a confident young woman.

Again, there was silence in the room. It was the first time anyone could remember Hinata contradicting her father, and even if her words were polite and her voice hesitant, it still shocked all of them, including Hinata. She had to keep reminding herself to breathe. "You need to think about what is best for the clan, not what is good for yourself," he said.

Hinata didn't understand how he could do this to her. How all of a sudden could he make her feel like a horrible, selfish failure when she had been trying so hard? She was trying to be the best heir she could be, but she wasn't sure what exactly that meant. She had her own ideas about where she wanted the clan to go, what she wanted it to become. But sitting there on her knees in front of her father, all those dreams seemed wrong, or at least misguided.

"You will stop training in this other style and concentrate on your Jyuuken," her father ordered.

"Yes, Otousan," she found herself saying, despite the fact that she loved her Shino-To-Be style and didn't know how she could give it up.

Suddenly Neji's voice rang out from the side of the room. "I am willing to take charge of Hinata-sama's training," he said.

Hinata looked over at him, startled. Neji was a natural at Jyuuken and years ahead of where she was, so it made some sense that he would train her. However, there was a risk that Hiashi was going to take it as an insult that a member of a branch family thought to train the heir of the house. 

Fortunately, her father simply nodded. Apparently, she was already so low in his eyes that it didn't matter to him. "Start immediately," he said.

"Yes, sir," Neji replied with a slight bow.

"Good." He looked back at Hinata. "Do you have anything else you need to tell me?"

Hinata thought about the million stories she had, times she had succeeded, even triumphed. There was so much she wanted to share that it was virtually bursting out of her chest. But her father only wanted to know what she needed to tell him, important facts, not stories. 

"Hokage-sama has requested that I participate in the upcoming jounin examination."

Her father's eyes formed into slits. "You are not yet a chuunin."

"I took a test in the west that Hokage-sama says counts as being equivalent. She wants me to at least participate in the fighting."

"No. We do not want a repeat of your chuunin exam," he said firmly.

"But Otousan, it is Hokage's orders and it won't be a repeat-"

"No," he cut her off with an icy tone. "I do not want the leaders of this village to watch you fight."

She closed her eyes and dropped her chin to her chest. He meant he didn't want the leaders of the village to watch her fail.

"I will go to talk to the Hokage tomorrow and have you removed from the testing group. Now, go to your room; you should get some sleep."

She wanted to fight, to press the issue and get him to at least give her a chance. He hadn't seen her fight in three years; he couldn't make a judgment on her fighting abilities when he hadn't seen her in so long.

But once again she found herself unable to take a stand. All of her confidence had drained out of her and without thinking she found herself standing, bowing to her father, and leaving the room to head up to her bedroom.

**:::::xxxx:::::xxxx:::::xxxx:::::xxxx:::::**

Hinata couldn't sleep. She lay awake on her futon in the middle of her room, alternating between lying there with her eyes closed and staring at the ceiling. It was no use; she couldn't stop replaying what her father said in her head.

How was she supposed to move on from here? She didn't know how to hold it together, how to prove to her father that she wasn't someone who should be dismissed.

Sighing, she turned over to look at the clock. It was either way too late or way too early to get up, depending on how you looked at it. But, she didn't have anything else to do, so she rolled out of her futon, flipping her braid over her shoulder. She might as well unpack the little that she had brought with her and maybe go back over some of her notes. She clicked on the small lamp that sat on her desk and slid open her closet door to grab a floor cushion.

Picking up her bag, she started to unload items onto the top of her desk. She had her standard change of clothes, toiletries and blanket all packed towards the top for easy access during travel. But at the bottom of the bag were the things that she valued most and therefore did not want to risk leaving behind for a few weeks.

She was about to start unloading them when there was a soft knock on her door.

"Come in," she said quietly, not wanting to wake the rest of the house.

The door slid open a little and Hinata could see Hanabi's white eyes reflecting in the low light. The girl was wearing a black yukata, her feet bare, her hair hanging in her face, one section running down the side of her nose framing her eye. She looked like a dark ghost standing at the edge of the light.

"Hello," Hinata said in a soft voice, covering just how startled she was with a soft smile. 

"I couldn't sleep and I saw your light on," Hanabi said solemnly.

Hinata gave her what she hoped was an encouraging smile. "I couldn't sleep either. Would you like to come in?" 

Slowly, Hanabi pushed the door open a little wider and slid through the narrow opening. Closing it silently behind her, she waited while Hinata got up to pull another cushion out of the closet. Hanabi knelt carefully on the cushion, her legs tucked up underneath her.

Hanabi didn't say anything and Hinata didn't know quite what to do, so she carefully started to pull things out of her backpack. There were two leather-bound books, a couple of flat packages wrapped in cloth, a roll of soft dark leather tied with a leather thong, and something in a long slim case.

"What's all that?" Hanabi asked somberly.

Hinata looked up, startled. "These? Ummm, well…" she smiled lightly. "These are the things I thought were most important to have with me. Sora is sending the rest of my things later on, but these things I didn't want to be without."

Hanabi looked at her, puzzled. "What are they?"

"Well, these," she said unwrapping the flat package, "are pictures. There's me, Naruto, and Sora, our teacher." She handed her sister a small, framed picture of the three of them in their pajamas sitting on the kitchen counter. It was the first picture of the three of them they had ever taken together and was still one of her favorites. Next came a slightly larger one. "And then here is just Naruto and I a few years later." This one had been taken while they were living with the Kaze during something called the festival of colors. They both were both dressed up in the showy dress clothes of the west, him in a deep orange pants suit and her in a dark blue-green langha.

"And then of course," she said, handing her sister the last picture, "there's you, me, Otousan and Okaasan." It was one of the few they had of all four of them, taken just after Hanabi was born. It was a formal picture, although it didn't hold the rigidity that future family portraits would have. Hinata's mother was sitting in a chair, holding Hanabi in her arms with a slight smile on her face. Hinata, dressed in a small kimono, was standing next to her mother's knee, one small fist held to her mouth. Their father stood behind the chair with his hands on their mother's shoulders, looking fiercely into the camera. Growing up, both girls had spent hours looking at the picture, trying to remember a past they couldn't quite grasp. 

Hanabi took in a halting breath and then looked back up at her sister. "And the other things?" she asked hesitantly. 

Hinata handed her one of the books. "This is just another photo album. More pictures of the three of us. This," she said, tapping on the book, "is just full of notes." Very important notes, but notes nonetheless. It wasn't something she was willing to share with Hanabi yet.

The younger girl flipped through the pages of the photo album briefly before settling on a page. "Who's that?" she asked, pointing at a photo.

Hinata leaned over to look. "That's Sora again, same woman as the one in the pink bathrobe in the other picture, just a different hairstyle. She's generally kind of…ummm," she paused trying to find a polite way to describe Sora. "Fashion forward."

Hanabi looked at her incredulously. Hinata had to admit it wasn't one of Sora's better outfits. It was while she still had her candy cane hair and she was wearing her modified version of the Kaze uniform with a miniskirt instead of pants paired with a top that looked like it was just barely covering the bottoms of her breasts. And of course she had on her boots.

They stared at the photo for a few seconds longer before Hanabi closed the book and set it aside. Hinata reached and picked up the long skinny case.

"This," she said, opening the box and taking out the object inside, "Is a battle fan." She opened it in one hand with a sharp crack. "My friend Shivani gave it to me when I left the Kaze. The spokes are made out of steel, see?" Hinata turned the fan over, showing her sister the pointed metal strips that made up the body of the fan. "The tips would be poisoned and while the fan is open you can slice your opponent. Closed, the fan can be used to block or hit. Kaze ladies used to carry them to fancy dress parties so no one would know they were armed."

"Does it work?" Hanabi asked, clearly not impressed. She remembered the Suna nin who fought with a fan, but that one had been enormous. This looked like a regular folding fan. 

"Well, I'm not very good with it, but Shivani is amazing. She fights with two, one in each hand, and the damage she can inflict is unbelievable. I'd never use them as anything other than a last resort though." Hinata closed the fan with a snap of her wrist and placed it back in its case. "Shivani sent a present for you too, but it's with the rest of my things that Sora is sending in a few days."

"Really?" Hanabi asked with wide eyes.

Hinata smiled. "She said you sounded sweet." Shivani also said that Hanabi would probably be jealous of all the cool things her older sister had done, but Hinata omitted that part. Shivani had a whole talk on why being a little sister sucked which she was apt to spew out at any second.

Hanabi showed almost no signs of hearing the compliment, but Hinata thought that she could detect a faint blush dusting her cheeks. "What's the roll of leather?" Hanabi asked, pointing.

With a smile, Hinata picked up the dark brown suede and carefully undid the tie. "The actual case Sora had made for me, but the important part is inside." She unrolled the leather and then flipped over the top flap. Hanabi gasped softly and Hinata smiled. "These are all of the hair sticks that Naruto has given me over the past year and half."

There were at least two-dozen pairs, made out of every possible material and in all the colors of the rainbow. They ranged from simple and practical to long and ornate. All in all they were staggeringly beautiful. Hinata smiled at them fondly. "He bought the first pair because I mentioned cutting my hair. Then I said I thought they were too nice for everyday use and he bought me more casual ones. By the time he finally worked up his courage to tell me that he liked my hair long, he'd already bought me a dozen pairs. After that, I think he just never got out of the habit."

"They're beautiful," Hanabi whispered softly running her fingers over the tops of the sticks. Other than their formal kimonos, neither she nor Hinata had grown up with pretty things to wear. The Hyuuga household was always rather austere, and their training clothes and everyday outfits were just about all the girls had.

Hinata smiled as her sister delicately brushed her long straight hair out of her eyes and looked longingly at the hair ornaments. "Do you want to try a pair?" she asked.

Hanabi looked up with wide eyes. "Could I?"

Her smile widened encouragingly as Hinata nodded. "Of course, just pick a pair."

It took several minutes of long study before Hanabi decided on a pair made of black lacquered wood topped with large red glass beads, flecked with gold and a few stands of gold beads dangling from the ends. Turning her sister around, Hinata grabbed her brush off the table and started to comb Hanabi's hair. 

It amazed Hinata how much more at ease she was around Hanabi now. Her little sister had always been so much better at everything than she was that it was impossible not to be at least a little envious. They had never really functioned as sisters before, not in the traditional older sibling/younger sibling roles. But all of her time spent with Miki and the children of the Kaze, patching up Naruto's little gang of hellions, and hanging out with the other girls, made her feel more nurturing then she had before.

Hinata pulled Hanabi's hair back into a tail at the base of her neck, then twisted it up and tucked the end inside the twist. Holding it in place with one hand, she inserted one of the sticks with the other, pushing through the twist and then flipping it over and back through the hair next to Hanabi's scalp. Then she added the second one and then stood to grab a hand mirror out of her closet. Hanabi patted her hair nervously as Hinata returned and handed her the mirror over her shoulder.

Hanabi sighed softly as she looked at herself in the mirror and tilted her head so that she could see the deep red beads against her dark hair. It had been a long time since she put her hair up in anything other than a ponytail for training. She smiled at her reflection in the mirror as she touched the beads and then at the reflection of her sister over her shoulder.

"Would you like to try another pair?" Hinata asked with a smile.

"Sure," Hanabi said with a soft giggle. She turned back to look at the ornaments again.

The door to Hinata's room slid open. "What are you doing up so late?" their father asked from the doorway. 

"Umm, neither of us could sleep, so-" Hanabi started. 

"You have training tomorrow morning, Hanabi. You should be in bed." His voice was gentle but firm, leaving no room for arguments.

"Yes, Otousan," she said quietly, reaching up to pull the two hair sticks out, her hair tumbling back down into her face. "Thank you, Onee-chan," she said standing up and handing the sticks back to Hinata. She bowed formally to her sister and father and then scurried out the door, slipping out of Hinata's grasp.

"Please refrain from interfering with your sister's rest," Hiashi said calmly. "She is training very hard and needs her sleep."

"She saw my light was on and came in, Otousan, I-"

"Nevertheless, the responsible, intelligent thing to do would have been to send her back to bed. I would prefer if the bad habits you have acquired did not rub off on her." There was nothing harsh about his voice, but it cut her all the same. It was the patronizing voice he had used to speak to her since she was a toddler.

"Yes, Otousan" she said quietly.

He nodded his head at her and closed the door.

Hinata clutched the skirt of her yukata in her hands. She would not cry.

**:::::Legal:::::**

The primary author of this work is Dame Wren. The authors are not affiliated with the owners of Naruto(TM).  
All materials associated with Naruto(TM) are used under the "Fair Use" provisions of copyright law.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

"Sakura! Don't you think you should get up?"

No, as a matter of fact Sakura did not think she should get up. She was still tired and therefore she should still be in bed. She was too groggy to remember why she was so tired, but she trusted that she had a good reason. 

There was more bellowing from the kitchen. Covering her head with a lilac-colored pillow she once again asked herself why she had thought it had been a good idea to get an apartment with Ino. Sure, the girls had mended their friendship years ago, but she should have known that did not necessarily mean that they should room together. 

Into had always been somewhat of a queen bee growing up. Pretty, confident, and smart, she was someone most of the other girls could look up to, even if she was a bit overbearing. Placement on the team with Chouji and Shikamaru had proven to be good for the young woman, finding that the more she bossed the boys around, the more they shrugged her off. She'd calmed down considerably working with them, and the group had developed enough cohesion that they had stayed together even after Shikamaru achieved the rank of chuunin. Not many teams stayed together once ranks changed.

Still, it wasn't until she achieved chuunin that she had been drafted into the Intelligence Corp., and it was there that Ino had truly come into her own.

Intelligence and spy training had an interesting effect on Sakura's old rival. Ino was sneaky, and woe be it to anyone who underestimated her shrewdness. She had effectively reformed her role as queen bee to now use a combination of skillful manipulation and badgering to get people to do what she wanted. Sakura was terribly glad that Ino had started dating, and maybe was even starting to fall for, Shikamaru. Even at his laziest, he was able to see what Ino was doing. Whether or not he bothered to stop her was another matter entirely.

"Sakura! Get out of bed!"

Lifting her pillow enough to read the clock, Sakura noted the time, then lay back down. "I've only been asleep for five hours; let me sleep!" she yelled back.

There was stomping in the hallway before her door flew open to reveal a rather irritated blond.

"If you want to stay up until three in the morning, that's your business, but don't expect me to put up with you sleeping in all day, forehead girl!" Ino exclaimed, stomping over to the bed with her hands on her hips.

"I was working, stupid Ino-pig, and it's only- Hey!" she yelled as Ino yanked blankets off the bed. "Give those back!"

"You won't say that once you hear the news," Ino said with an evil grin. 

Realizing that there was no way Ino was going to let her sleep, Sakura sat up on the bed. "What news?"

Ino stalked to the door and looked at Sakura over her shoulder with a triumphant smirk. "Naruto and Hinata are back," she replied, and slipped down the hallway towards the kitchen.

"WHAT!" Sakura yelped, hopping out of bed, her shoulder-length hair swinging. She bolted down the hall in her pajamas, grabbing the doorjamb to stop herself. "They're back?!"

Ino offered up another smirk as she sat down at the small dining room table with her breakfast. She was wearing a sleek fighting dress with a scooped neckline and a stand-up collar, her long hair up in an elegant twist except for her trademark one piece that fell in the front. "Shikamaru told me. Apparently they came in late last night and spent a few hours in debriefing with the Hokage. They got home almost as late as you did."

Sakura sat down at the table across from Ino with a slight thud and pushed a couple of strands of pink hair out of her face. Shikamaru was in intelligence with Ino and generally news that came from him was accurate. News that came from Ino was either accurate or spun towards some goal. Generally that goal was matchmaking.

"You're sure?" Sakura asked. Just the idea of seeing Naruto again was a shock. She had been assured that he was coming back, that he was safe and just off training away from the village. Still, she hadn't been able to really let herself believe that. In so many ways the memories of those three years were painful. 

Ino nodded. "Of course I'm sure. Would I tell you if I wasn't?"

"Where is he? At his old apartment?" she demanded.

This time she shook her head. "No; apparently someone left him a house for when he turned sixteen. It's over on the west side of the city."

"Do you want to go?"

Ino smiled. "Thought you'd never ask."

Sakura stood up and headed back down the hall. "Just let me get cleaned up."

"We should bring a housewarming present!" Ino yelled down the hall after her.

**:::::xxxx:::::xxxx:::::xxxx:::::xxxx:::::**

Hinata finally fell asleep, albeit fitfully, and woke up late. Looking at her clock she groaned softly, then pulled herself up out of bed. It was nearly ten o'clock, and she had told Naruto that she would be over this morning. With any luck he would have slept as late as she had. Getting up in the morning had never been his strong suit.

She walked to the end of the room and slid open the doors that exposed the courtyard below. Beyond the railing she could see Hanabi and her father training, her father correcting Hanabi's stance and then making her run through the series of strikes again. Her sister had improved quite a bit in three years. She wondered if her little sister was preparing to test for chuunin.

Remembering she was late for her meeting with Naruto, she grabbed her things and headed down to the bathhouse. She scrubbed herself and washed her hair but didn't allow herself to soak in the tub afterward. Dressing in her standard black pants and cream-colored tunic, she performed a quick hair-drying jutsu to save time (Sora knew a ridiculous number of techniques related to hair). Running back upstairs she brushed out her hair and rolled out her hair sticks, choosing a pair of redwood sticks with a stripe of darker wood inlayed through it. Pulling her hair back into its customary bun, she slid the sticks in and patted her hair to make sure it was all secure.

She left her room and headed down the stairs, trying to figure out how she was going to find Naruto's house, when a voice stopped her.

"Hinata-sama?" Neji said from the top of the stairs. She turned to look up at him, his opposing figure taking up much of the doorway. "Where are you headed?"

"I'm going over to Naruto's. I told him I would be by this morning," she said. She was determined to go, but she wanted to get out of the house before her father finished training with Hanabi simply to avoid any possible confrontation. 

Neji nodded. "I'll go with you; I know where the house is. Afterwards we can start working on your training."

Hinata wanted to go alone, to catch a few minutes where she could just have Naruto hold her. But she didn't know where the house was while Neji did, and somehow she got the feeling he wasn't going to let her go alone even if she said something. So, with an inward sigh she waited for Neji to walk down the stairs and join her. They were silent as they collected their coats and put on their shoes. Neji held the door for her as she walked through, then the two of them set off through the village.

It occurred to Hinata that her already serious cousin had become even more serious in the three years she had been away. It also occurred to her that if they were going to do anything more than walk in silence, she was going to have to start the conversation.

"What have you been doing for the last three years, Neji-nii-san?" she asked.

He looked at her for a second and then offered a small shrug. "Hokage-sama saw fit to keep my genin team together, although all three of us passed the jounin exam last year. I have been going on missions with them, along with training with Hiashi-sama."

She smiled at him. "Congratulations on making jounin. Its amazing that all three of you moved up in such a short amount of time."

"I confess it was very difficult, but we worked hard. Plus, they look to put teams that will work well together for missions, and the three of us are so accustomed to working with each other that it outweighed our youth. We are one of the few teams that has stayed together for so long; most people have gone into specialist training. They put us with a couple of older chuunin who specialized in genjutsu and ninjutsu and we passed."

"Do you know how the others from our chuunin test group are doing?"

"From what I know, they have all made chuunin at this point. Nara-san probably would have made jounin, but they keep him very busy in intelligence and he says it can't be bothered. I don't know which of them are planning on testing for jounin with you and Uzumaki-san."

She smiled sadly. "If I take the jounin exam. Otousan seems determined to keep me from testing. I suppose my chuunin exam was embarrassing enough."

Neji didn't respond immediately, leaving the two of them to walk down the street silently, listening to the sounds of the village bussing around. He startled her in more ways than one when he spoke.

"Hinata-sama, I want to apologize for the way I acted towards you during the chuunin exam," he told her.

She looked at him with a slightly confused look on her face, traces of sadness on her face from the old memory. "Why? You needed to defeat me in order to continue with the test."

Clasping his hands behind his back, he bowed his head as they walked. "Still, I was fighting you out of anger. You fought hard and I belittled you because of my hatred for the head family. I dishonored both you and myself."

She shook her head and looked at the ground at her feet. "Neji-nii-san, I can understand why you hated the head family. We weren't very fair to you or your father."

He stopped and put a hand on her arm to stop her as well. Hinata couldn't remember a time he had ever touched her except for their one fight. Looking into his eyes, she found they gleamed with emotion and purpose that she had never seen in him before. "My father chose to give his life to protect the village and the clan. Now it is my choice to follow in his footsteps. Cursing the head family and my fate is not going to change anything. I will take what fate has given me and make a better future. That is my nindo."

He was willing to bury the past, she realized. To undo years, generations of division between the two groups, and move forward to create one family together. She had been so frightened that she was going to arrive home to a situation similar to that in the Kaze, where the branch family was ready to overthrow the head. Instead the cousin she had been so frightened of her whole life was here offering a truce. 

It brought tears to her eyes, but she did not let them fall, standing with her back straight and turning herself to face Neji more fully. "I do not intend to run the clan the same way my ancestors have, Neji-nii-san. Most likely the way I want to do things will bring me into conflict with my father. I am still finding the strength to defy him, but I will, and when I do I don't want you to be caught in the middle. I am not quite the same girl who left three years ago, and I cannot guarantee that you are going to like what I'm going to do."

Neji offered her a rare smile, just the barest upturning of his mouth. "I have noticed you are not the same, and while I cannot guarantee I will always agree with you, I offer my support to you nonetheless."

She smiled brightly and nodded. "Thank you, Neji-nii-san." she said.

He nodded, and they turned to start walking down the street again. "Tell me," he said, "about this new style you have learned. You said you have incorporated our strikes into it?"

Hinata began to explain Shina-To-Be, the Kaze, and partner training to Neji. He asked good questions, which made it easier for her to talk. The only thing that threw her off was that he kept asking questions about her and Naruto. He had mentioned it the night before as well, but she couldn't understand why.

She was considering asking when she heard a wild stream of barking quickly followed by a large white dog that nearly knocked her over. She jumped back letting out a shriek of surprise, only to nearly loose her footing again as the dog circled her legs, butting his head up against her.

It wasn't until she got a good look at the dog that realization dawned upon her. "Akamaru?!" she asked and the dog yelped happily. "Look at you! You've gotten so big!" she said, kneeling down to be at the dog's height while she scratched behind one of his ears. The dog leaned forward and licked her cheek, making Hinata giggle.

"Akamaru!" came a deep yell from down the street. Looking up, Hinata spotted two familiar figures running towards them. One was a man in black sunglasses with a long, high-collared jacket and the other had on a big parka, which he was wearing open over a tight-fitting t-shirt. 

"Akamaru, what the hell are you doing running- oh!" The man with the parka stopped to stare at the girl playing with his dog. "Hinata? Is that you?"

"Kiba-kun! Shino-kun!" she exclaimed happily, standing again with a final pat to Akamaru's head.

Shino nodded at her and she could see the faint wrinkles of a smile around the edges of his glasses. "Hinata, it is good to see you back in Konoha again and looking well."

"Looking well?" Kiba asked incredulously. "Shino, have you had those damn glasses of yours checked recently? Hinata's turned into a BABE!" 

Hinata suddenly found her hand grabbed and she was spun around in a circle, Kiba inspecting her as he turned her around. "Damn, what did you do to yourself? You look hot!"

Her face turned bright red, embarrassed beyond what she had previously thought possible. She couldn't believe that Kiba was talking like this! Things only got worse as he tugged on her hand to bring her closer to him and dropped one arm over her shoulders.

"Hey, have you gotten a chance to see the village yet? A lot of things have changed in the time you've been away. There's a great restaurant that opened up on the other side of town. How about I show you around and then we grab dinner?"

"Um, actually, Kiba-kun, I'm on my way to see Naruto," Hinata said ducking out from under Kiba's arm.

"Why? You were just forced to put up with him for three years," he asked.

"She's dating Uzumaki-san," Neji said from behind her, arms crossed over his chest. Kiba had matured into a rather roguish teenager, whose combination of bad-boy charm and a cute dog had started to win him dates with many of Konoha's young ladies. Generally the girls' fathers objected, but generally Kiba didn't give a damn. Neji didn't exactly dislike Kiba, but he might as well stomp any ideas of him dating his cousin right now.

"Eh? Naruto?" He scrunched his nose in disgust and shook his head. "Hinata, whatcha doing going out with an idiot like him?"

"Kiba-kun!" Hinata said shocked. "Naruto is not an idiot!"

"Heh, he does a pretty good impression of one, running around yelling, pulling pranks, and eating ramen." 

"Naruto is a sweetheart! He's one of the kindest, bravest, and strongest people I know!" Hinata said, with a startling ferocity.

"He also," Neji said calmly, "beat you in the Chuunin Exam, Kiba-san."

"Heh; it was a fluke," Kiba responded with a dismissive wave. "I'd kick his ass now. Besides, Hinata's been on a mission for three years with him; she probably hasn't had a chance to see what her other options are." He gave her what could only be described as a wolfish grin.

"I really don't think I need to, Kiba-kun," Hinata said, wishing she just had a little bit of Sora's ability to tell off men. "I'm very happy with Naruto."

"Yeah, well, we'll see about that," he said. "Shino and I were heading out to train, but maybe I'll come bug the idiot with you. Could be fun."

Much to Hinata's disappointment, Shino nodded. "I would like to see Uzumaki-san again."

She sighed. First Neji, and now Kiba and Shino. Things weren't going well for her and Naruto getting some time along together.

**:::::xxxx:::::xxxx:::::xxxx:::::xxxx:::::**

"He's going to kill it," Sakura said, staring at the large leafy green thing in her arms.

Ino shrugged. "You obviously don't understand housewarming presents," she said with an air of infinite superiority.

Sakura scowled. "It's you who wanted to bring this instead of something practical that we knew he could use."

"Cup ramen is not an appropriate housewarming present," Ino scolded Sakura.

The other girl rolled her eyes. Decision-making between the two girls always took forever. It had taken them three months of paint swatches and arguments to agree on painting the kitchen white. "But that's what he likes. Everyone knows that that's what he likes."

"What if he's grown up in the last three years and doesn't like it anymore?"

Sakura stared at her. She couldn't see that happening. A Naruto who didn't eat ramen? She wasn't sure he would still be Naruto.

They continued to gripe and grumble at each other as they walked down the street. They had spent so much time arguing over the present that it was almost eleven o'clock.

Ino glared at something Sakura said, then pulled out a slip of paper. "Okay, so according to Shikamaru his house should be right kiddy-corner for his one."

Both girls looked up at the house and stared.

"Are you SURE?" Sakura asked, disbelieving. "Who would give a house like that away to Naruto?!" 

Ino looked back down at the sheet in her hand. "That's the address I was given."

Sakura shrugged. "I suppose it couldn't hurt to go over and knock," she said wearily.

They crossed the street and cautiously walked up the front steps. They shifted their weight from side to side for a second, before Ino got impatient. "Oh, don't be ridiculous! We're ninja for heaven's sake! What could possibly be behind that door that we can't handle?" She made a fist and knocked loudly on the door.

They heard a thump, the sound of feet, and then the slipping of the deadlock. The door opened and a very bleary-eyed young man poked his head out.

"Hello?" he asked, clearly not yet awake. 

Both girls stared. Where they had expected Naruto's head to be was, in fact, a bare and rather well-muscled chest. Slowly their eyes moved up to his face where blond hair was hanging in his eyes. He was rubbing his eyes with one hand while he yawned.

"HOT DAMN!" Inner Sakura screamed.

"Naruto?" Sakura asked disbelieving.

"Huh," he said as his vision cleared. "Sakura-chan? Ino-san?" he said, looking between the two of them. They continued to stare at him.

Suddenly he grinned broadly, let out a whop and both girls found themselves in a crushing hug, potted plant and all.

"Na-Naruto-kun," Sakura managed to get out as her lungs were crushed. Well, at least it was definitely him.

Just as quickly as the girls had found themselves picked up, they were suddenly released again, gulping in air.

"It's great to see you! Come in! Come in!" he said, holding the door wider.

Cautiously, they walked inside.

**:::::xxxx:::::xxxx:::::xxxx:::::xxxx:::::**

Naruto had decided that he couldn't sleep in the bedrooms. He didn't want to sleep where his parents had once slept, and he had shut the door to the nursery, not intending to open it up again for a very long time. That left him with the guest bedroom, but the spring-filled mattress had felt odd after years of sleeping on the ground or a futon. Finally, he had pulled the drop-cloth off of the couch, pulled his camping blanket out of his backpack, and slept there. He had spent a number of nights on the couch at Sora's with Hinata and Miki right after Nori's death, since his sister wouldn't let them sleep in each other's bedrooms.

The sun was relatively high in the sky when he heard the banging on his front door. It only partially registered in his brain, but he swung his feet off of the couch and walked like a zombie across the living room floor to the door.

The shock of seeing Sakura and Ino at his front door had shaken him out of his slumber and gone a long way to restoring his good mood. Seeing old friends again, even if they had both been brats and even if his crush on Sakura had long since faded away, brought a tremendous sense of joy to his heart. They had come to see him as soon as he returned.

"We brought you a philodendron," Ino told him, pointing at the plant Sakura was still holding.

Sakura waited for him to say something stupid and unintentionally rude, but instead he grinned and said. "Awesome! Thanks!" His words left Sakura standing there rather dumbly, staring at him. This was Naruto?

Ino looked at her, clearly wondering why she wasn't talking, before turning back to Naruto. "It's a beautiful house. Traditional and modern all at the same time." Naruto realized it was true. Now that he was seeing the house in the daylight rather than just the small light from the jutsu, he realized that it was a nice blend of a modern layout with traditional simple lines and materials. All of the floors were done in a wood so dark it almost looked black, while the walls were in a finely grained wood that seemed to glow red in the sunlight. The single couch that was uncovered was dark green with a classic sleek look, although Naruto could attest to the fact that it was very comfortable.

"Yeah, well, I was surprised to get it, but it's pretty cool," he said, trying to sound nonchalant, but failing miserably. Fortunately, Ino and Sakura thought he was trying to disguise his pride, while he was actually trying to not reveal that it was his father's house. He wasn't ready to tell his friends everything.

"Who gave it to you?" Ino asked. 

"Heh," Naruto said, rubbing the back of his neck with a falsely bright grin. "Yondaime left it to me; don't ask me why!" 'Please don't ask me why,' he thought. 'I don't want to lie to you and I don't want to explain.'

"Really? Yondaime?!" Ino asked, stunned. Poor Sakura continued to stand there and stare, philodendron in hand.

"Yeah; weird, huh?" Naruto replied.

Ino's eyes narrowed. She hadn't been trained as a spy for nothing; she could tell that Naruto was holding something back. She had opened her mouth to grill him when there was another knock on the door.

"Hold on," Naruto said, grateful for the interruption. He walked past the two girls to the door and pulled it open. There on the doorstep were Hinata, Neji, Shino, Kiba, and great big white dog.

Naruto's face was instantly pulled into a grin, although he was rather surprised.

The dog bounded in and started bouncing around the room. Finally, he jumped up onto the couch, put his front paws on the back, and howled. 

"Ack! Stupid dog; get off my couch!" Naruto shouted, grabbing the dog's collar and trying to pull him off. Akamaru, however, wouldn't budge. "Damn it, Kiba! Get your dog under control!"

Kiba just leaned against the doorjamb and smirked. "Looks like he's doing fine on his own to me," he replied with a shrug.

"Damn it! I hate dogs!" Naruto exclaimed, grabbing Akamaru around the waist and trying to pull him off that way.

Hinata sighed and headed over towards the couch. "You like Dango," she said softly and reached up to scratch Akamaru behind the ear. "Akamaru, would you mind getting off the couch please?"

The dog gave a soft woof and bounded over the back to the floor, sending Naruto flying back into the fireplace. He scowled at the dog as he got up. Akamaru snorted and lay down in the doorway next to Kiba's feet. "Yeah, but he's the correct size for a dog; one you can pick up and move." 

"Dango?" Shino slipped past Kiba and stepped over the dog to get inside the house, followed by Neji.

Hinata smiled. "He was a dog that belonged to some of the people whom we trained under while we were away. He's a kind of dog from the Far West called a corgi. They're smaller than Akamaru."

"A corgi?" Kiba asked, surprised. "I've seen pictures of them in books, but no one I know of has seen a real one in years. They're funny-looking."

"HA! That's what I said!" Naruto exclaimed.

"They're not funny-looking; they're adorable!" Hinata protested. "Sora brought one back from the far west for Miki."

"Who are they?" Sakura asked, finally shaking herself out of her stupor.

"Miki and Sora? Umm, well…" Hinata bit her bottom lip as she tried to figure out where to begin. Tsunade had declassified everything but their fights with the Akatsuki so that they could tell their friends and family what happened, but there was still so much to tell.

Naruto decided to begin by diving into the deep end. "Sora's my sister. She used to be part of a team that killed crazy bastards in the West. However, her and her partner Yasu dropped out of the business about six years ago. Miki is Yasu's daughter."

"Sister?" Sakura said. "You don't have a sister!"

Naruto grinned and started digging through his bag. "Sure I do. Where the hell did it go?" he asked into the bag, practically diving into it. "Aha! Here it is!"

He walked over to Sakura and handed her a framed picture. Sakura blinked. Two faces, eyes covered in sunglasses, grinned twin maniacal grins out at her. They were standing close together and Naruto was making the victory sign, while the woman was apparently holding the camera. The sun glinted off their sunglasses and the large gold stud in her nose.

"That can't be your sister, she looks nothing like you. Her hair is burgundy!" Sakura said disbelieving, handing the picture off to Ino for inspection. 

"Sora's hair color is apt to change at any moment, so that doesn't really count for much," Naruto said. "But I never said we were blood related; I just said she was my sister." He started to pull other things out of the bag, littering them on the couch.

"She's a former student of Hokage-sama's who took us to train for three years as a favor. In the end, Naruto and Sora adopted each other in a way," Hinata said, hoping that would hold them from asking more details. The relationship between Naruto and Sora was simple and complicated all at the same time. The secret of who his parents were and what they had been planning on doing were all wrapped up in how Naruto and Sora came to be siblings. But it boiled down to being brother and sister in the end.

"Really, she's Hokage-sama's ex-student?" Sakura asked. She looked back at the picture again. Tsunade had taken on an apprentice or two before Shizune, but Sakura had gotten the impression they hadn't stayed very long.

"Yeah, well, Nee-chan's not all that good at medical stuff. I mean, she's better than most, but not good enough that it made sense for her to stay apprenticed to Tsunade, so they were only together for three years," Naruto said. "Before that she had trained with the Kaze, and after that she started traveling with Yasu."

"And who are the Kaze?" Sakura asked.

Hinata sighed. "Maybe we should all sit down and start from the beginning."

"Yeah," Naruto said with a sheepish grin.

"Don't you think you should get dressed, Uzumaki-san?" Neji asked flatly.

Naruto looked down at himself and suddenly realized that he was still wearing just his drawstring pajama bottoms. Looking up, he noticed Hinata's face turning redder and redder. "Heh. Yeah, I probably should," he replied, grabbing his bag and running up the stairs to change. "Be right back!" he yelled back down.

Ino gave off a ladylike snort and looked at her watch. "Hmmm, it's almost lunchtime; we should get something to eat."

"We could go grab something and bring it back here," Sakura said.

"That would probably be best," Neji said.

"Are you sure?" Shino said. "Naruto hasn't had a chance to unpack yet, so perhaps it would be better to eat at a restaurant."

"I'm sorry, it's just that we got in so late last night, we haven't really had time-" Hinata stopped talking as soon as she realized that the others were looking at her funny. She stared at them, trying to figure out what she had said that was odd.

Fortunately, Naruto chose that moment to come running full force down the stairs. "All right! So what's up?"

"We're going to go get something to eat," Sakura said. "Since there's nothing to eat here."

"You can explain what the hell you've been doing for the last three years while we eat," Kiba added.

"We should probably pick up some supplies at the grocery store for you while we're out," Hinata said to Naruto.

"Yeah, you're right. Let's see what's in the kitchen," Naruto said suddenly, grabbing Hinata by the wrist and pulled her into the other room. 

Sakura snorted and shook her head. "Only Naruto would think there might be something worth eating in the kitchen of a house that's been boarded up for years."

Ino narrowed her eyes and latched onto Sakura's arm, pulling her to the other side of the room close to the kitchen doorway. Peeking around the corner into the kitchen, she saw Naruto and Hinata standing and talking to each other in a language she didn't know.

She turned her back on them to look at Sakura. "Ask him out," she said.

"What?" Sakura asked, shocked.

"Forehead girl, stop being stupid and ask Naruto out! He's definitely date worthy and he was crazy about you before he left."

"I don't know…" Sakura's voice trailed off as Ino let out a howl of frustration.

"Give up on Sasuke. After all these years I would have thought that you would have grown up enough to move on!" Because Ino was Sakura's friend, and because she knew that even after all of these years Sakura was still in love with the dark-haired, dark-hearted boy, she didn't bash Sasuke the way so many others would have.

"Just because you gave up on him and fell in love with Shikamaru doesn't mean I have to. Besides, I'm not in love with him anymore; it was just a schoolgirl crush and I've moved on. I just don't want to date anyone right now and am tired of your incessant attempts to play matchmaker, Ino-pig!"

"But why not at least go out with Naruto?!"

"Because," Sakura said with a smirk, "he's kissing Hinata in the kitchen."

Ino started and looked behind her into the back corner of the kitchen. Sure enough, Naruto and Hinata were in each other's arms and softly kissing. There was something so tender about it that all ideas of putting Sakura and Naruto together flew out of her head. There was warmth radiating from the pair and a sense of tranquility that Ino had rarely seen in anyone, let alone the loud boy and nervous girl. It made her not want to disturb the pair.

Unfortunately, it did not have the same effect on Neji. He came striding across the living room and into the kitchen. Walking up to the couple, he grabbed Naruto by the collar and forcibly pulled him away from his cousin. Naruto, caught off guard, found himself thrown up against the kitchen cabinets with Neji in between him and Hinata.

"What the hell was that for?!" Naruto exclaimed.

Neji folded his arms across his chest. "What are your intentions towards my cousin?" he asked.

"What do you mean 'what are my intentions'?!" Naruto yelled back, advancing towards Neji.

Hinata quickly slipped between the pair. "Neji-nii-san, Naruto, please, stop it!" she said slightly desperately.

Both men tried to grab her at the same time. This resulted in Hinata getting pulled in two directions, then released, at which point she stumbled off to one side. Naruto managed to be a hairs-breath faster in grabbing Hinata, so in the ended she up at his side, arm wrapped protectively around her shoulders. She sighed. At least he hadn't shoved her behind his back. She hated when he did that.

From the doorway, Sakura, Ino and Kiba boggled at the scene. Shino seemed to express mild interest from a few feet behind them.

Neji glared at the couple. "The two of you vanish for three years and suddenly come back a couple. As the one responsible for her protection, I am hardly out of line asking you what exactly you are planning to do with my cousin."

"Planning to do with her? One responsible for her protection? I'm not the one who put her in the fucking hospital!"

The dark haired man sucked his breath in between his teeth. "That was years ago and I apologized for it!"

"He did, Naruto!" Hinata agreed quickly, turning underneath his arm to lay her hand over his heart. 

He looked down at her with a scowl and she smiled back. "I think Neji has changed in the last few years," she whispered quietly in western. "He's been very kind to me since we returned. Give him a chance."

The tension in his body eased slightly, and Naruto turned to face Neji again. "You apologized to her?" he asked.

Neji nodded.

"And now you want to be her protector? No more of that stupid "fate" crap?"

Again Neji nodded. Naruto snorted and looked him straight in the eye. "Well, you don't need to protect her from me," he said firmly. 

"All right," Neji said and both men realized that was all they needed to say on the subject.

There was another knock on the door. Sakura turned and walked across the living room. From the kitchen, they heard the sound of door opening, followed by an enthusiastic cry. "Sakura! It is good to see you looking as beautiful as ever! Is it true that our two wayward friends have returned home?"

Sakura's voice was slightly strained as she answered. "Yes, Lee, they're in the kitchen."

There was the patter of feet across the floor and a large green blur slid into the room. Rock Lee had grown in the last few years and was now sporting a standard issue green vest, but the energy radiating from the young man had not changed.

"NARUTO!" Lee yelled, striding across the room to grasp Naruto's hand and shake it vigorously. Naruto swore he could feel the bones in his hand fracturing and was grateful for his healing abilities. "It is good to see you again, my friend. The power of youth has once again prevailed and your glorious return has been much heralded throughout our group, bonded together through the brotherhood of our first chuunin exam! We are thrilled to welcome you back and eager to hear of your trials and triumphs throughout your years away!"

Naruto gave a stilted laugh as he tried to extract his hand from Lee's grasp. "Good to see you too, Lee-san."

There was a large sigh from the doorway. Tenten was leaning up against the doorjamb, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Lee, we don't have time for this," she said, clearly having gone through this situation many times before.

"Ah, that's right! I am sorry, my friend, but we are going to have to save our catching up for a later time, as we have a mission we have to complete."

"A mission?" Neji asked.

"Yep," Tenten said, "we're supposed to leave within the hour. We're meeting Gai-sensei by the main gates in forty five minutes; estimated time away is five days." 

"Humph," Neji said, turning to his cousin. "Hinata-sama, I'm afraid we will have to save your training for later."

She smiled sweetly back at him. "That's fine, Neji-nii-san. Be safe on your mission."

He nodded at her and turned to leave with the rest of his team. Lee slapped Naruto on the back. "We will return to the village in five days. Perhaps then we can get together and train!"

Naruto smiled and nodded. Training with Lee would be challenging to say the least, and he was interested in seeing how his taijutsu matched Lee's at this point.

Tenten waved as they left the kitchen. "Good to see you again, Naruto-san, Hinata-san."

They offered short waves back as the three left. No one said anything as the dust from the Lee tornado settled. 

"Well," Naruto said, "are we going to go get something to eat?"

"How long have you two been together?" Ino asked, perturbed.

"Umm…about a year and a half I think," Naruto replied. Hinata nodded.

"Why didn't you tell us immediately?!" Ino yelled.

"We were trying to be discreet!" Naruto yelled back.

Hinata put her hand up to his chest. He looked down at her and instantly calmed down.

Ino arched an eyebrow at them.

"What?" Naruto asked, laying his arm across Hinata's shoulders.

Ino smirked. " Nothing. Well, we can go to lunch only if I come back so that I can get a tour of this house. I want to see what the rest of this place looks like." Ino said, crossing her arms.

He shrugged. "So we'll go get something to eat and then come back," Naruto said. Then his eyes began to sparkle. "Can we get ramen?" he asked. 

Sakura smirked at Ino. "Lets go get ramen," she said. 

"All Right! ICHIRAKU HERE WE COME!" Naruto yelled, grabbing Hinata's elbow and starting to pull her towards the door.

"What! But there are plenty of ramen stands closer!" Ino exclaimed.

"But they're not Ichiraku!" Naruto shouted back, helping Hinata with her coat. Hinata turned and smiled at the group.

"He's attached to the idea now; we're not going to be able to sway him," she said matter-of-factly.

Shino pushed his glasses father up his nose. "All right then, we should get started," he said, heading towards the door. Kiba shrugged and followed him, leaving the two young women with no alternative but to follow along.

**:::::Legal:::::**

The primary author of this work is Dame Wren. The authors are not affiliated with the owners of Naruto(TM).  
All materials associated with Naruto(TM) are used under the "Fair Use" provisions of copyright law.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Naruto and company exited his new house and started toward Ichiraku's. It really annoyed him that he couldn't hold Hinata's hand. He was going to have a hard time getting used to these new restrictions on their relationship. Perhaps a good helping of ramen would make him feel better.

"Finally! I've been dreaming of a good bowl of Ichiraku ramen for years!" Instant noodles were alright and there was plenty of good food in the west, but nothing beat Ichiraku ramen.

Postponing her questions about Naruto's house, Ino steered her interrogation toward new grounds, "So Naruto, you were telling us about you and Hinata."

"What's there to tell? Hinata's great and the best girlfriend ever!"

This was hardly a satisfactory explanation for Kiba. "What do mean 'What's there to tell'?! Just how did a ramen junky like you manage to land a hot babe like Hinata!?"

"Yeah, I thought you'd never get a clue! You just wouldn't take no for an answer and were completely oblivious to poor Hinata," Sakura reminisced.

Laughing Kiba readily recalled, "You never learned no matter how times she clobbered you. Most people would have gotten a clue after the first beating, but you just wouldn't give it up."

"Ahah, yeah I was a complete idiot wasn't I. I knew you didn't like me, I just-"

"Wait I didn't mean-"

Naruto waved it off, "Back then I'd decided I needed a girlfriend. You were smart and pretty and popular so I thought you'd make a good girlfriend. Even when you rejected me, I just thought I needed to work harder and keep trying. Then we were placed on the same team and I saw that as another opportunity to prove myself to you. I'm sorry I was such a pain in the neck."

Sakura was taken aback, "You mean to tell me all that time you didn't actually have any real feelings for me and I was just some PRIZE to be won?!"

Somehow things hadn't changed and Naruto once again found himself edging a bit too close to a pummeling, "No, no! That's not what-"

Well acquainted with Sakura's temper, Ino decided to preemptively restrain Sakura by getting between her and Naruto, "Get out of my way Ino-pig!" Trying to get around Ino, "How could you play with my feelings like that!?"

As Naruto started backing away making exaggerated placation gestures. Hinata decided a little intervention was needed. Placing a hand on Sakura's shoulder, "Sakura, he never meant to hurt your feelings. Besides, you never really liked Naruto that way anyhow? And you're still good friends despite it all right?"

This turn of events instantly caught Ino's attention. She hadn't realized just how smooth Hinata could be. Ino considered it a good move to simply identify the competition. However, Hinata had gracefully managed to ask Sakura if she actually had romantic feelings for Naruto while subtly suggesting that they were simply good friends all in the space of a few seconds and while playing the peace maker. Ino wondered whether Hinata had done all this intentionally or if she was just naturally good at it. If Hinata was so good, why hadn't she gotten together with Naruto earlier? Everyone knew how badly she had it for him even before they left. This was the sort of question that really intrigued Ino.

While Ino contemplated this turn of events, Naruto took his chance to avoid a beating and quickly agreed, "Yeah, Yeah! I never wanted to hurt you or anything!"

Largely placated, Sakura realized just how conflicted her emotions were over her favorite idiot, "You're still a giant BAKA!" With that established the group resumed their course toward Ichiraku's. It was true she never really had romantic feelings for Naruto. However, he was one of her closest friends and his unannounced departure came as a hard blow. Sasuke never really paid any attention to her. At least Naruto made her feel wanted and he was always eager to help. Things went from bad to horrible when Sasuke defected to the Sound. Maybe if Naruto had been there he could have convinced Sasuke to stay. Maybe he could still find a way to save him. She'd have to tell him soon, but they deserved peace of mind for a few days didn't they? Maybe she should have given him chance after all? Hinata looked so happy with him and what had her feelings for Sasuke ever brought her but pain.

Capitalizing on the break in the storm, Ino asked Hinata, "So why did you two wait a year and a half to get together?"

"A-ano … well …." The question brought back all sorts of embarrassing memories such as her inability to confess to Naruto. Hinata was still sensitive about that. She was rather reluctant to talk those memories. "W-we were still getting to know Nee-chan … a-and work-"

Ino was nothing if not persistent, "Don't tell me he was obsessing over Sakura that whole time?!"

"I wasn't obsessing!" yelled Naruto considerably louder than he had intended. He was rapidly becoming uncomfortable with the direction the conversation was taking.

Hinata had begun to slouch and stare at the road one foot in front of her. That's when she noticed herself putting her forefingers together in an old nervous habit. She wondered at how easily the old habits returned. Straightening her posture she looked over at Naruto which brought a smile to both their faces. Speaking in a more confident voice, "We had a lot of things to work through first."

Smirking, Ino continued, "Like Naruto's obsession wi-"

Sakura had let her friend go long enough, "INO! Give them a break!"

Shino was happy to simply observe, but like Ino, Kiba wanted details. The possibility of embarrassing Naruto in front of Hinata was an added bonus, "I bet Hinata is just covering for Naruto and he's as oblivious as ever."

"It wasn't like that Kiba!" Hinata protested.

"Then Naruto can tell us what it was like," Ino Countered.

The group had entered a noisy street filled with shops, street side vendors, and midday shoppers. Fortune once again smiled on Naruto and he was saved from responding to Ino as Konohamaru sprung out of the crowd, "Naruto-niichan! Sexy No Jutsu!" and immediately transformed into shockingly gorgeous brunette clad in nothing more than a few thin wisps of moister. "Naruto-kun please don't stare. It's so embarrassing," said the vixen in a silky voice before disappearing in a cloud of smoke.

"How was that? Pretty good huh?" asked prankster's apprentice, eager for approval.

It would not be an understatement to say that the show brought the busy street to a complete halt. Everyone from the shoppers to the stall owners simply looked on in a silent daze waiting for the blond shinobi to respond. Kiba simply stared, his thoughts irretrievably derailed while Shino turned his shocked face toward Naruto, both eyebrows well above his sunglasses. Sakura and Ino stood frozen in stunned silence. Udon and Moegi simply waited for Naruto's evaluation.

While Hinata was becoming much better at taking the foolery that seemed to track Naruto in stride, this was simply over the top. "N-Naruto," Hinata sputtered in a soft squeak, trying to regain control of her mind while nervously petting Akamaru.

"Ahahaha!" With one hand behind his head, Naruto approached his pupil, "That was pretty good Konohamaru! However, we're too old to be doing such things anymore." Leaning toward Konohamaru and whispering, "And you're embarrassing me in front of Hinata, but don't worry I've got even better jutsus now."

Recovering from her shock first, Ino whispered her thoughts to Sakura, "I guess he hasn't just matured physically."

Konohamaru thought he had heard wrong, "You mean Sakura right?" Naruto shook his head no. Konohamaru had a puzzled expression on his face and looked between Hinata, Naruto, and Sakrua several times. "Ah, you've finally given up on the violent ogre woman!" Naruto would have stopped Konohamaru from saying such a dangerous thing if he had seen it coming. Instead, he decided to get out of the way.

Inner Sakura went from stunned silence to murderous instantly "WHY THAT LITTLE PUNK! I'LL SHOW HIM VIOLENT!" raged Inner Sakura. Konohamaru had just enough time for his brain to register the peril he was in. Taking three quick strides to Konohamaru, Sakura smiled sweetly, "So I'm a violent ogre woman eh?" She then grabbed his shoulders and brought her need crashing into his gut. With a look of sweet satisfaction, Sakura watched the noisy genin crumple to the ground, gasping for air. Moegi and Udon quickly hid behind Naruto for protection.

Hinata knew how physical Sakura could be from all the stories Naruto had told her, but that had not really prepared her for the real thing, "Was that really necessary? He's just a kid." Still, she occasionally found herself jealous of the pink hair kunoichi's strength and self confidence.

Gesturing at Hinata, Sakura waved it off. "Ah, he'll be fine in a couple minutes."

Turning to face an apprehensive Naruto, Sakura smiled, "You don't think I'm violent do you?"

"O-of course not Sakura-chan!" Naruto thought best for his health not to give her a hard time. Besides, he was hungry and did not want to make a bigger scene. Now was the time to placate Sakura. Pushing her buttons would just get between him and his ramen. With the exception of her enemies, Sakura would never seriously hurt anyone anyhow.

Satisfied that Konohamaru just had the wind forcefully knocked out of him, Hinata helped him too his feet. Udon and Moegi moved to support their leader who was still a bit unstable on his feet. Looking over at Sakura, Udon whispered, "She sure is scary." Moegi was star struck, "One day I want to be strong like Sakura!"

While Konohamaru recovered, Naruto and Hinata chatted with the three genin and gave them a quick overview of their time away. The rest of the group milled about street, looking at what the street venders were offering, and chatting with each other.

Noticing Ebisu as he entered the street a fair distance away, Hinata asked, "Is Ebisu-san looking for you?"

Konohamaru confirmed her guess and boasted, "Yeah, but we ditched him hours ago."

Hinata smiled and pointed up the street, "Well, isn't that him heading this way?"

Konohamaru swore, "Don't tell him you saw us."

Naruto grabbed Konohamaru by the collar and yanked him to a halt before the three genin could tear off in a mad dash. "Don't make such a commotion. He hasn't noticed us yet. Go through that shop and I'll distract him for you."

Naruto created three kage bunshin, transformed them into the three genin, and sent them strolling toward Ebisu. Hopefully, they'd keep him busy for several minutes before he figured out they were just bunshin.

**:::::xxxx:::::xxxx:::::xxxx:::::xxxx::::: **

With the departure of the Naruto's Konoha chapter of little hellions, the group made their way to Ichiraku's without any further interruptions.

As the ramen stand came into sight, Naruto grabbed Hinata's hand, eliciting a bright smile from her, and rushed the last fifty yards. Before Kiba could stop him Akamaru had abandoned his side and run after Hinata.

"Akamaru!" yelled Kiba, in a half hearted attempt reign in his dog.

From the outside, Ichiraku's looked nearly the same as years previous with, perhaps, a bit of aging. Fortunately, they had arrived somewhat before the midday rush and there were enough stools for everyone. Naruto and Hinata took their seats and Naruto's stomach loudly anticipated his favorite food. Akamaru responded with two quick barks.

Hinata giggled and scratched his head. "Akamaru sit." Akamaru happily obeyed. "You're suuuch a good boy aren't you?"

At the same time Naruto was trying to get Teuchi's (the owner) attention. "Oi, jichan."

He was preparing for the midday rush, "One second, I just need to finish with these noodles."

Before Naruto responded, Ayame came out from the back, "Can I help you?"

Grinning Naruto replied, "Yeah, I'll have my usual and, uh, Hinata what would you like."

With a confused look on her face Ayame began, "I'm sorry, what is your …." Naruto was considerably larger than she remembered and wasn't wearing his trademark orange jumpsuit. However, very few people had whisker marks adorning their checks and her look of confusion quickly transformed into one of fond recognition, "Na-Naruto!? Is that you?"

"Ya, we just got back last night and I'm dying for a decent bowl of ramen!"

"You've grown so much I almost didn't recognize you! Stand up and let me have a good look! Father, Naruto's back!"

"Yes, I heard. Welcome back Naruto. When you stopped coming by a few years ago we started to worry. Ayame wanted to storm the Hoka-"

"Father!"

Laughing, Teuchi continued, "Anyhow, your previous teacher, Iruka, told us that you had gone on some secret mission and wouldn't be back for a few years, but that you were safe. Your ramen will be ready in just a minute. What would your friend like?"

"I'll have some miso ramen, vegetables, and some dango. Oh, and do you have something for Akamaru."

"Yeah, we have some meat scraps he can have."

Joining Naruto and Hinata, Sakura, Ino, Shino, and Kiba sat down and ordered as well.

While they waited for their orders, Naruto and Hinata happily told their friends a couple abbreviated stories from their time away while dodging a couple of the more personal questions from Ino. There was certainly no shortage of things to tell.

When their ramen arrived, Naruto's friends waited with eager anticipation to see what he would do. While Naruto found this attention somewhat odd, he was hungry and just wrote it off. He was about to happily fall upon his delicious meal like a half starved slavering fox demon. However, just before wolfing down his meal in a few swift gulps, Naruto noticed just the slightest hint of disapproval in Hinata's expression and restrained himself. Instead he brought a large portion of noodles to his mouth and rapidly consumed them in what could almost be called a dignified manner.

The two roommates were stunned. "What have you done to him!?" cried Sakura. Shocked, Ino blurted, "Unbelievable! She's actually managed to train him!"

Hinata didn't expect such a commotion over Naruto's eating habits. She certainly didn't expect to be given so much credit for it. "I-I d-didn't do…"

Naruto didn't see what the big deal was. Looking between his friends he asked, "What?"

After a good laugh Kiba couldn't help but give Naruto a hard time, "Maybe I should ask Hinata for tips on training Akamaru! She sure did a great job with you!"

Naruto hadn't noticed Ino's comment, but couldn't miss Kiba's dig. "Hey! It's not like I was some unruly dog that needed to be trained!" In a more subdued voice, "Hina-chan and Neechan just helped a little with table manners and stuff."

"It is quite normal for people to mature through their teenage years. It has been three years," Observed Shino.

Naruto's ego was still fairly sensitive when it came to social aptitude and he immediately latched onto Shino's suggestion. "Yeah yeah! What Shino said! I've just matured!"

"Yeah, I'm sure that's it," Sakura allowed. The two roommates and Ayame, who had been watching as well, dissolved into fits of giggles.

Naruto was about to return his ramen when Hinata placed a hand on his shoulder. Turning him toward her she fed him one of her dango, "You need some variety." This elicited a reinvigorated burst of giggles from the other girls and riotous laughter from Kiba. Neither Hinata nor Naruto cared. Naruto found it hard to refuse Hinata anything and Hinata couldn't help her practical side or her nurturing instinct.

It was a good minute or two before Sakura, Ino, and Kiba could start eating for all the laughter. Naruto largely restricted himself to yes and no answers between breaths and refilling his mouth with ramen. Hinata, not having the staggering appetite of her boyfriend, answered most of the questions for the both of them. After a half hour, everyone had largely finished their lunch and they were nibbling what was left. That is with the exception of Naruto. He had thoroughly cleaned eight bowls of ramen and was stuffed.

Shikamaru was relieved to find his friends at Ichiraku's. He didn't like having to hunt people down. Approaching his girlfriend, he spoke her name and placed a hand on her shoulder, "We're needed over at Intelligence."

Ino was enjoying herself too much, "I'm not done with my lunch yet. I'm sure it can wait a bit."

Naruto greeted his lazy friend, "Hey Shikamaru, how's it going?"

"Not bad, but I'd prefer to be getting work done instead of running all over Konoha looking for Ino."

Smiling, Naruto said, "We were hungry."

"Yeah, I walked all the way to your house only to find no one was home. Then I had to walk all the way here."

Naruto was glad he didn't have to look much to find them, "Oh, good thing you found us so quickly. How'd you know we'd be here." Ino sighed. Naruto obviously didn't remember how good Shikamaru was at figuring things out.

Shino answered for Shikamaru, "He probably stopped by your house first and then came by here after seeing that no one was home. It is lunch time and he probably knew you got in late. Given your well known love for Ichiraku ramen and enormous appetite, this was the next logical place to look." A slight nod from Shikamaru confirmed Shino's speculations.

Shikamaru was just too lazy to fuss with Ino and decided to get right to the point, "Ino there's plenty of time for you learn the inner secrets of Naruto and Hinata's relationship. They aren't going anywhere for at least a couple months."

In an irritated voice, Ino conceded, "Fine. What could be so important that I can't even finish my lunch?"

Shikamaru didn't want to listen to an irritated Ino on their way to Intelligence Corp's either, "Something to do with some visitors from the west." Having worked with her for years, Shikamaru knew just how to bait the blond. Ino found foreign visitors fascinating and people from the west were some of the most foreign foreigners in Konoha.

Ino took her dango and got up from her stool, "Naruto, Hinata, it was nice visiting you. I'll see you two later. I still expect a tour of your house." Sharing her remaining dango with Shikamaru, who probably skipped lunch out of laziness, she waved good bye to her friends and left.

Hinata figured it was probably a good time to head back to Naruto's house. "Shall we get supplies for the house and head back?" The rest of the group concurred.

Naruto pulled out Gama-chan, his frog wallet, and started to dig through it when Sakura stopped him. "I'll pay for you two."

Hinata protested, "We can't accept-," but Sakura cut her off, "It's no problem. You guys can pay next time. Besides seeing you two is worth every yen."

Naruto acquiesced and put away Gama-chan, "Okay … but I'm paying next time!"

While Sakura paid, Naruto thanked Teuchi and gave Ayame a hug bringing a slight blush to her face.

**:::::xxxx:::::xxxx:::::xxxx:::::xxxx::::: **

The walk back to Naruto's house was uneventful. Naruto continued his stories of their time away. Hinata helped with the gaps in his memory and demurred at some of the larger exaggerations made on her behalf. Sakura, Kiba, and Shino were captivated and without Ino there to steer the conversation toward more sensitive topics both Naruto and Hinata felt quite at ease. On the way, they stopped to get supplies for Naruto's new house. Naruto hadn't realized just how much stuff he needed. Just the cleaning supplies were too much for him to carry. Thankfully, there were five of them.

Setting part of his load down, Naruto opened the front door to his house to let everyone in. There was certainly a lot of work to do. Fortunately, he and Hinata knew a plethora of cleaning jutsu.

Naruto carried his supplies inside and put them down on the floor, "Uh … just leave everything on the floor for now I guess."

Everyone left the stuff they were carrying in a big pile and Naruto started the tour. "Well you've already seen this room and the kitchen so why don't we start with the tour with the basement." With that, Naruto began showing his friends around. Sakura wanted to have a better look at the kitchen and the girls spent some time examining it while the guys milled about. Akamaru found everything fascinating and Naruto worried he would mess something up. Aside from running into everyone in his excitement at exploring a new house, he was well behaved. After looking around the basement, Naruto showed them around the second and third floors. He narrowly avoided showing his friends the baby room by going on about how great his parent's bedroom and bath were. Everyone was surprised to learn the house had a rooftop garden.

Still worried about Akamaru, Naruto warned, "Your dog better not dig up my plants."

Kiba didn't seem the least bit concerned, "Yeah, yeah, he hasn't broken anything yet."

Naruto lead them up the spiral staircase and onto the roof. Kiba couldn't help but laugh, "What were you worried about? Akamaru would be doing you a favor by digging up all these weeds."

As Akamaru sprinted from one plant to the next, Naruto shouted, "They're MY weeds dog breath! I don't want some scraggly mutt making a mess for me to clean up."

Shino seemed unusually interested in the garden and was quietly examining some of the plants. Sakura and Hinata loved it and immediately started chatting about how best to fix it up.

After arguing with Kiba a bit more, Naruto noticed Akamaru chewing on some of the weeds and ran over to stop him, "Hey stop eating that fur ball!"

Kiba didn't see what the big deal was. "What do you care? It's just some weed! You're going to get rid of it anyhow."

Naruto felt committed, "Maybe I like that weed!"

Hinata walked over to Akamaru and took the plant from his mouth, "Akamaru stop that."

Sakura had followed her to continue their chat and noticed something familiar about the plant. Bending down to take a closer look, she tried to recall if she'd seen the plant before.

Before Kiba and Naruto resumed their argument, Shino spoke up, "Not all of these plants are weeds. I have identified a couple plants that are fairly rare."

That was when Sakura remembered the plant she was looking at, "Naruto you're forbidden from touching any of these plants without Hinata or myself around." That particular plant was used in certain kinds of healing salves. Tsunade had had to import some from the west a while ago. How did such a plant end up as a weed in a house formally owned by Yondaime? "Some of these plants are hard to get and until we've identified them all I don't want you killing them."

Naruto donned his pouting face, "Who says I'd kill them?"

Shino explained, "It is probably better to leave the plants alone until they are identified. They have survived on their own for years. Waiting a few more days won't hurt them and we can determine how best to care for them during that time. Do you mind if I take some samples?"

"Uh, sure, no problem," he said, rubbing his chin. He would need to get some gardening supplies and a few tools.

The argument between Kiba and Naruto was entirely forgotten. Everyone spent another hour talking about the garden, the various plants, how best to organize and clean everything up, and other domestic stuff.

With the day approaching mid afternoon Shino and Kiba left to do their daily training. Kiba asked Naruto to join them, but Naruto still had a house to clean and reports to write. Shino told Naruto he would help identify the plants and let him know as soon as he had any results. Before leaving, Kiba gave Hinata lung crushing hug that would have earned him a beating from Naruto if Hinata hadn't intervened. Both of her former teammates expressed their heartfelt happiness as having her back and insisted that she tell them before leaving again or at least leave a note. Hinata felt somewhat ashamed at having left with telling them. They had been quite worried.

**:::::xxxx:::::xxxx:::::xxxx:::::xxxx::::: **

After Shino and Kiba left, Naruto remembered the gift he had been meaning to give Sakura. Digging through his stuff, he finally found it, "Ah, here it is." It had been over a year since he had managed to produce and acceptable painting of cherry blossoms for Sakura. A great many things had changed since then, but he hoped Sakura would still like it.

"I made this made for you while training at Nee-chan's, I hope you like it," Sakura's expression darkened considerably at the mention of his time away, but he didn't make much of it.

Instead of gratefully accepting the gift as Naruto had hoped, Sakura smacked him across the face. It was no light tap and nearly knocked him off his feet.

Entirely confused and somewhat angry, Naruto yelled, "WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR!?"

Responding to the sudden turn of events Hinata ran to Naruto's side, "Are you okay?" She was stunned at Sakura's actions and didn't really know what to do.

After a couple seconds, Sakura still hadn't responded. She was just standing there with her head bowed. Naruto was about to repeat his question even louder when she turned to face him. Upon seeing her face, his anger instantly drained from him to be replaced with concern and confusion. She was sniffling and her face was streaked with tears. Between sobs, she asked, "Why didn't tell me you were leaving?"

Naruto hadn't thought she would be that upset about it and was too panicked and bewildered to answer. He still couldn't handle crying girls.

Fortunately, Hinata was more composed and answered for him, "We didn't have time before Nee-chan left." Hinata had always been so envious of Sakura. She had never stopped to consider how hard Naruto's absence might be on Sakura.

"He could have left a note or written."

"I'm sorry, it was all very rushed and I didn't really have time to think about it. We weren't allowed to write anyone," Naruto replied, having recovered enough to speak.

Sakura had figured that had been the case, but it hurt nonetheless. She flung herself at Naruto and buried her face in the crook of his neck. "Baka! I missed you so much."

Naruto didn't know what to do so he just stood there and rubbed her back while she cried.

For Naruto, it seems like an eternity, but for Sakura only a moment passed. Still sniffling, "You better not abandon me again."

"Of course, I'm not going to abandon you! You're one of my best friends right?"

Sakura stood back from him and wiped the tears from her eyes, "You promise?"

"I'm sorry I left without telling you. I can't promise that I'll always be able to tell you before I leave, but I promise I'm not going to abandon you."

With that reassurance, Sakura brightened considerably. "Well let me see the painting."

With one hand behind his head and an optimistic smile, Naruto handed her the painting. "I hope you like it. I'm not really all that good at painting and stuff." Hugging Naruto, Sakura said, "I love it! I so glad you're back!" She then turned and embraced Hinata, "Thanks for taking care of the idiot." After collecting her plant cuttings, she left the house to Naruto and Hinata. She still had some work that Tsunade needed her to finish from the previous night and decided to get going before she started crying again.

Turning to Hinata, "So do you have anything else to do today," Naruto inquired.

"Not really."

This brought a large smile to Naruto's face, "Good, then I have you all to myself." He then embraced and softly kissed her.

While Hinata would like nothing more than to continue, she knew they had a lot to do. Disengaging from him, she said, "Okay, we need to get some work done."

Naruto frowned and crossed his arms in a good impression of a five year old. Hinata smiled sweetly at him, "If we're fast enough there will be plenty of time this evening." Motivating him was too easy.

"So where do you want to start!"

"How about the kitchen?" Hinata suggested. "Oh, do you think I can keep some of my things here? I don't have room for it all in my room."

"Sure, no problem," Naruto had more space than he knew what to do with anyhow, "but don't the Hyuga have somewhere to keep all there stuff."

"Yes, but my father says it isn't for frivolous things."

Naruto really hated that man, "Oh, I see." Nevertheless, neither of them wanted to start a fight with her family so soon after returning.

**:::::xxxx:::::xxxx:::::xxxx:::::xxxx::::: **

Hiashi sat patiently in the hospital waiting room. He had arranged to meet with the Hokage that afternoon, but apparently surgery was taking longer than expected. He really disliked that insufferable woman. It was not that she was a terrible hokage in general, but she protected that miserable demon boy like he was her own child. When the boy was growing up, Hiashi could not help learning about all the trouble he caused. It seemed like every week he got into trouble. He even went as far as to deface the Hokage monument! The Kyubi was obviously affecting the kid's behavior. For a long time, Hiashi thought the kid would never amount to anything. This was especially true during his training to become a genin. The kid was simply terrible at everything. That was what Hiashi had been told at least. The chuunin exams proved the kid had at least some skill. The true danger he posed to the village became apparent during the third stage of the exams when he fought Neji. The Kyubi was not completely sealed and the kid was accessing its chakra! It was only a matter of time before the kid succumbed to the demon. He had to be killed for the good of the village before he became too powerful and that damn woman simply refused to listen to reason. Stopping the Kyubi a second time before it killed everyone would probably be impossible. Even worse, there was apparently some group of very powerful shinobi trying to capture the kid and take the Kyubi's power for themselves. She would not even consider sealing the kid while they looked for a method to dispose of the demon. Both the third and fourth Hokages had also wanted the kid to have a chance at a good life. Hiashi could understand that, but he would never have put the well being of the whole village at risk for one kid. Still, he would not have the kid assassinated unless there was no choice. He just hoped it would not be too late by then.

Hiashi waited for over an hour before the Hokage was finally available. He understood that medical procedures were difficult and often ran long than expected. However, it still made him highly irritable. He had important clan business to attend to and did not have time to be sitting around.

The Hokage took him to her private office and Hiashi got to the point without preamble, "I want Hinata removed from the Jonin tests."

Tsunade had not exactly expected it, but was not very surprised by the request either. The man was oppressively heartless. Not wanting another political annoyance, she decided to be diplomatic, "May I ask why you are making this request? Konoha needs all the qualified shinobi it can get."

Hiashi understood the need for more upper rank shinobi, but the good of the clan took precedence. He could not afford for the clan to be seen as week by another terrible performance of his eldest daughter. It was bad enough that he only had two daughters and Neji was more gifted than both of them. At least Hanabi showed potential, "She isn't skilled enough to test for jounin rank."

With such a lack of support from her father, no wonder Hinata was so timid. "It isn't for you to determine who is and who is not qualified to be a jounin. That is why we have the tests." Tsunade's temper was rapidly rising. That man pushed all the wrong buttons.

Hiashi was adamant, "The Hyuga will not allow the weakness of the current heir to be displayed so publically."

Tsunade had had enough. Slamming the desk with her hand, she said with a raised voice, "We need all the qualified shinobi we can get. Hinata will test for jounin. My decision is final!"

Hiashi had not expected so much resistance, but the clan could not afford another major embarrassment. "That is unacceptable. If I have to, I will order her to resign from the shinobi ranks."

Between clenched teeth, Tsunade asked, "You dare to defy the will of the Hokage!?"

"It is within my rights as the head of the Hyuga clan."

"And as a shinobi of the leaf it's Hinata right to leave the clan and not resign," Tsunade smirked. Let the arrogant bastard chew on that.

Hiashi was furious. Such a thing was unthinkable and would be an utter disaster for the clan. Hinata was loyal, but didn't have much sense when it came to her responsibilities as a Hyuga. He could not risk her leaving the clan out of some misplaced sense of loyalty to the village or the Hokage. Maybe there was another way to stop this before it got out of hand. "Perhaps we could have a private test just for Hinata. Her sister, Hanabi, is a genin. If she can't defeat her sister then she certainly can't pass the jounin test." Hiashi did not want to do this, however he was confident in Hanabi's abilities. She was far more gifted that her sister and he had been personally instructing her for years. Hinata, on the other hand, had not practiced juken for years and would not be able to properly utilize her blood limit.

Tsunade found this test somewhat cruel. However, the test was acceptable to her. If Hinata's capabilities were half as good as Naruto seemed to think they were Hanabi did not stand a chance, "Fine. When do you want to do this test?"

The fight was scheduled for two days later and when Hiashi left they were both convinced the verbal battle had gone their way.

**:::::Author's Notes:::::**

I originally meant to include a fight scene in this chapter, but decided that it could wait. I'm not entirely happy with the chapter. Hopefully, I have caught most of the spelling and grammar mistakes. Nevertheless, I would appreciate any editing readers provide since I do not currently have a beta reader. To make things easy for me, you could copy the text of the chapter, use the "track changes" feature in Microsoft word, and e-mail me (see my profile) the edited document.

Reviews are also welcome. I would particularly like feedback on how true this chapter is to the characters. Feedback on the flow of the story is also very useful. Of course, I appreciate any constructive criticism.

I could use suggestions for chapter titles.

**:::::Legal:::::**

The authors of this work are not affiliated with the owners of Naruto(TM).  
All materials associated with Naruto(TM) are used under the "Fair Use" provisions of copyright law.


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